ammonia problem

[jen54]

Can anyone help please? I have nitrite of 0, nitrate of 5 -so far so good, but my ammonia is 0.5 despite several water changes. Also the water seems to be very slightly cloudy. What can I do?

 

[enrgizerbunny]

How long has the tank been going, what is the temperature, how long are your lights on, and have you added any stock lately? What prevent water change are you doing, have you tested the tap for ammonia, and are you testing before and after changing water?

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[jen54]

Temp 26, lights 8 hours per day, tap water ok, slightly less after 25% water change, normally 25% every week, tank has been running the same for about 9 months, only new stock is a pair of dwarf gouramis about 3 weeks ago.

 

[Rivercats]

Test your tap water to see if it has ammonia in it. Also what is your ph? Too a low ph can slow or stop the nitrification process which can make ammonia increase.

 

[paul65]

Hi, dont worry too much about the cloudy water this is a perfectly natural occurance, your 8 hours lighting per day is perfect. Overfeeding your fish can result in cloudy water and would also explain your slightly high ammonia reading, try cutting down on the feed and even skip a days feeding and see if this results in levels dropping to zero, also keep up the water changes and you should be fine, if cloudy water problem persists then there are tank additives on the market to cure this, good luck

 

[enrgizerbunny]

I'd up your water changes to 50% and see if that makes a difference. Also, testing the tap for ammonia is another good one.

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[Rivercats]

I do not suggest using any type of product that clears cloudy water. Often times it don't work and can actually increase cloudiness. When dealing with long term cloudy water using a polishing pad or tightly packed polyfill into the filter will polish water. Also many people have very good luck using Purgen in their filters which can really help polish water.