ammonia from the tap!!

[thomasina]

Knowing that fish, dead fish and plants cause ammonia, what does one do when it comes straight from the tap @ .25? I use conditioner, use API test kit, have a 10 gal with 9 tetra, have done everything I know of! We have city water that comes from a spring. There is nothing I know of that can take it away, and use PRIME to help out the fish. When it gets to .50 the next morning, all I can do is a water change. Store bought water is not an option to me because there is no where to buy it! So once again I am asking for opinions!! Thanks!

[thomasina]

Knowing that fish, dead fish and plants cause ammonia, what does one do when it comes straight from the tap @ .25? I use conditioner, use API test kit, have a 10 gal with 9 tetra, have done everything I know of! We have city water that comes from a spring. There is nothing I know of that can take it away, and use PRIME to help out the fish. When it gets to .50 the next morning, all I can do is a water change. Store bought water is not an option to me because there is no where to buy it! So once again I am asking for opinions!! Thanks![/QUOTE]

[shellieca]

How old is your tank? .25 is not very high & if your tank is fully cycled your BB should be processing it out.

[tamtam]

Having ammo in your tap water is pretty common, .25 ppm isn't an issue.

Is your tank cycled? .25ppm should be able to convert in 24 hours so dosing with PRIME when you do the change will detoxify the ammo for 24-48 hours and by the time it wears off your ammo should be back down to 0. This is usually what people do when they deal with ammo in tap water.

Where you are having a rise in ammo from .25ppm to .5ppm this makes me think that either your tank isn't cycled or that you are over stocked and your bacteria can not support the bioload you have.

What sort of tetras do you have? I think your stocking is your problem TBH. I think having even 9 nano fish like an ember tetra in there may be a struggle to control water quality. Anything else would certainly pose a problem.

[DCtank]

My tap water has 1 ppm. I feel like I'm pouring poison right into the tank so I've been splurging on bottled water. However, someone on this forum suggested that if I do small water changes (around 10%), then the amount of ammonia going into the tank at any one time is small enough that the biofilter should be able to handle it. I have to admit, I'm wary of finding out. Last time I did a 20% water change and the ammonia in my (newly cycled) tank tested at .25 for over a week.

[jcolon]

Originally Posted by DCtank

My tap water has 1 ppm. I feel like I'm pouring poison right into the tank so I've been splurging on bottled water. However, someone on this forum suggested that if I do small water changes (around 10%), then the amount of ammonia going into the tank at any one time is small enough that the biofilter should be able to handle it. I have to admit, I'm wary of finding out. Last time I did a 20% water change and the ammonia in my (newly cycled) tank tested at .25 for over a week.

This is what water conditioners ... like seachem prime ... are for. It converts Ammonia into a less toxic form, but still allows the bacteria to consume it.

[vaquero]

Originally Posted by thomasina

Knowing that fish, dead fish and plants cause ammonia, what does one do when it comes straight from the tap @ .25? I use conditioner, use API test kit, have a 10 gal with 9 tetra, have done everything I know of! We have city water that comes from a spring. There is nothing I know of that can take it away, and use PRIME to help out the fish. When it gets to .50 the next morning, all I can do is a water change. Store bought water is not an option to me because there is no where to buy it! So once again I am asking for opinions!! Thanks!

I am fighting the same fight with my tank. >.25 even after doing a 25% water change. Using Prime but see no difference yet. Plus I'm fighting a Bacteria bloom with my fry tank. Good luck, let me know what works to clear it up. Oh and I am using two filter systems in my 25 gal tank. Thought it would help filter out ammonia problem...we'll see!