High Ammonia in tap water. What should I do?

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phishfriend

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Joined
Sep 25, 2012
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Ok all, I'm new to this forum but have had salt and fresh systems in the distant past. I wanted to start a small tank for my daughter, which I have done. Here's the layout.

20 EXH tank
marineland emperor 280 filter/ceramic bio rings in 2nd meduim tray
few fake plant
gravel sub
angle's plus "active" foam filter
Prime only chemical used

The tank is 2nd week into "fish in" cycle:
Fish=two female guppies

API master kit(freshwater)
lvls= PH 7.0
amo 1.0ppm
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 0ppm

I'v been having a hell of a time bringing my Ammonia down. Daily sometimes twice daily(given time) Water change after water change,(which I knew was going to be required) and nothing lower than .50ppm. So today I run a test on my tap water and what I read was a bit shocking..... Amo 1.0ppm PH 7.2. I ran tests a few weeks ago before I set the tank up and didn't get readings like this!

So here's my questions. How or what can I do to my tap water to lower the ammonia pre-water change? Does anyone have this problem or is this a problem something I need to address with the local water company?

:thanks:
 
My tap water reads ammonia sometimes also, but I never get a reading in my tank. Once your tank has an established bacteria colony, it will take care of the ammonia quickly. You can treat the water with Prime to detoxify the ammonia until it's gobbled up. I'm sure that reading in your tap water will reduce over time.....your source probably just did a treatment.
 
Your water conditioner should bind ammonia and then your bio filter will take care.
 
creic38 said:
My tap water reads ammonia sometimes also, but I never get a reading in my tank. Once your tank has an established bacteria colony, it will take care of the ammonia quickly. You can treat the water with Prime to detoxify the ammonia until it's gobbled up. I'm sure that reading in your tap water will reduce over time.....your source probably just did a treatment.

I was think this wound be the case. Just worried it would effect the fish during cycle.
 
This is why you need a quality conditioner like seachem prime
It'll neutralize ammo to a harmless form for 24-48 hours allowing your bio-filter time to consume it.
 
Don't worry man just put add prime to ur tap water , do water changes every three days.. And if u want to just let it cycle dat way .. Or u can add clony product to help boost it up . With all this water changes is the most important! Good luxj
 
I use prime in my tap water. Since I use a buck transfer water from sink to tank, I put the proper amount of prime in the bucket then add water and it seems like the action from the water going into the bucket mixes it all well enough.
 
phishfriend said:
I'm using prime but the tank is only in the second week of cycle

The Prime should keep the water safe & once your BB is built up it should be able to process the ammonia. IMO, if you're able to get a .5 reading then its already started processing ammonia. If you're really not comfortable with it right now you could do 1/2 tap, 1/2 (or less) bottled until you're done cycling.
 
Using an alternate water source really isn't necessary. Some water systems use chloramine which will give you an ammonia reading in your tap. The good news is that at 7.0 ph the ammonia isnt in a toxic range yet. If it were me, I'd do a large pwc every other day or possibly twice a week depending on test readings. Even 2.0 ammonia at 7ph isnt toxic, however be careful not to tempt fate.
 
Last edited:
Just a quick update! All lvl's coming into line. The angle's plus sponge filter and a bag-o-gravel from a friends health tank jump started things. Looks like ill only have a four week cycle!! Thanks everyone for your help.
 
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