Ammonia problems

[Butters]

ok i searched for an answer but didn't find one
my ammonia for some reason stays between .250 and .50. current bio load is 3 turbos/4 astreas/2 conch/1 sand sifting star. i do a 20% water change twice a week and still ammonia remains present. i also use tap water. i asked the guy at the lfs about "ammo lock" and he said not to get it.(forgot the reason) i tested my tap for ammonia and the readings are 0.
weird thing is that my nitrites stay at 0 and my nitrates stay at 10.

this is getting really flustrating. still feel like i have no idea what I'm doing.
tank has been up for 2 months now. the minute I put in some live stuff i get ammonia. I understand why I get it but I can't figure out how to get rid of it.

also one of the guys at the lfs said I will always have traces of ammonia and that .250-5.0 is fine. By reading here I don't think that should be the case. Am I correct in this? It should read 0 at all times right?

 

[reefrunner69]

What do you use to dechlorinate the tap water?

 

[Butters]

What do you use to dechlorinate the tap water?

aquaclear

 

[steve-s]

aquaclear

Are you refering to the tablet product that campers use to make drinking water safe or if not can you post the manufacturers name?

Cheers
Steve

 

[Butters]

sorry its AquaPlus by Nutrafin.
for chlorine 1 capful treats 10 gallons
for chloramine 1 capful treats 5 gallons
to protect scales and fins 2 capfuls treats 10 gallons (Double quantity for saltwater aquariums)

 

[reefrunner69]

Are you treating at a chlorine level or a chlorimine level? If your water treatment company uses chlorimines instead of chlorine and your treating at the chlorine level....your just going to break the bond between the chlorine and ammonia, the chlorine will be removed but the ammonia will stay. I would also suggest getting your test kit double checked.

 

[steve-s]

Try testing the tap water after adding the Aquaplus. Could be a false reading from the test kit or possibley the conditioner itself.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Butters]

tested the tap water after the aquaplus. ammonia readings are 0. I'm thinking that the ammonia spike could have been caused by adding 2 lbs of live sand when we had that east coast blackout. is it possible to have die off after 6 hours and 1 hour travel time to get the sand from the store to the tank?

also got a phospate tester today since i have to rely on tap water. reading was .250 ppm on pre treated tap water. should i get something like "phosguard" to lower it to safer levels?

 

[steve-s]

If your not having algae issues, I would worry anout the PO4. Keep tabs on the NH3 and see if the sand theory pays outs.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Butters]

im having a green hair algae bloom but its not to bad atm. however i have TONS of "white hairs" floating in my water? could theese be belached by the sand hair algae?

 

[steve-s]

Not sure what your "free floating" source is unless it's just fine sand being blown into the water column or fine air bubbles. If the hair algae continues and gets longer, I would definately look into a granular PO4 sponge. Just be careful of how long you leave it in. In future you may wish to fill a 5 gal pail and use a quick filter with some PO4 remover in it or possibley a polyfilter pad to help remove the problems before they go into the tank.

Cheers
Steve

 

[Butters]

thanks for your replies...the free foating stuff is white and looks like fibers or white hair. its also on my rocks and glass. im thinking this is hair algae just bleached by the sand. could this be possible?

 

[Butters]

"Filamentous algae are single algae cells that form long visible chains, threads, or filaments. These filaments intertwine forming a mat that resembles wet wool." found this on another thread.
I think this is whats floating around in my tank and on the rocks/glass due to the ph's not letting it settle. how do i treat this? prolly lower my phosphate right?