API ammo lock questions and concerns

[MissGurnus]

Ok, so as a bit of background last week i did a water change only to find out there was ammonia in our tap water, thankfully though the biofilter took care if it pretty quickly. then a small out break of ich i took care of with heat and tablets at half dose for the loaches.

So to avoid future problems I bought api ammo lock to cut out that problem. I tested our water again and wasn't positive there was 0 ammonia in the water (I always have a hard time between 0.00 and .25 ammonia readings) so after i did a 50% change i added 7ml of the ammo lock (it called for 5 per ten gallons but i halfed it just in case)

Now i find all four of my khuli's doing circles. I'm really concerned and confused because the platy's are acting normal along with my angel, cory's and even our kubotai is acting 100% normal. Sorry if this is the wrong thread didn't think it fit under unhealthy fish. Any information or thoughts are appreciated!

(They were stressed from the previous ich treatment and ammonia but were acting fairly normal this morning)


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[biondoa]

I was surprised to learn that tap water can contain some ammonia, usually in the form or ammonium. It s usually caused by chloramines being added to tap water. Make sure that your dechlorinater removes both chlorine and chloramines. Prime is good for that.

 

[MissGurnus]

Its a well xD i live in the country


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[MissGurnus]

I had looked for prime but the lfs only had API


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[PNWaquarist]

When you add dechlorinator to chloramines, one of the reaction products is ammonia/ammonium. So you'll want to make sure that your dechlorinator has an ammonia-binding agent. Prime does, for example.


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[Mebbid]

If the water has a reading of 0.25ppm ammonia then its absolutely nothing to worry about. It needs to hit a certain concentration to be toxic which is dependent on temperature and ph. Even with this in mind you have to go above 0.5ppm of ammonia to start becoming toxic.

If youre doing a 50% water change then your ammonia level is going to spike at 0.125ppm.

As for the fish eeacting to rhe ammo lock, i honestly cant help you with that.

 

[MissGurnus]

I wasn't sure if fish would react to it our not. I was worried the khuli's would be effected by it like ich medication, though things seem better today ?


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[coralbandit]

I wouldn't worry about .25 either especially if yor filter quickly converts it.
Possibly if the ammonia seems to be an issue smaller waterchanges(2 instead of 1) will help the ammonia be taken care of quicker.
Hoppy on TPT has a test kit calibration thread if you think the test kit is the issue?
Change more water if kuhlis are still stressing and don't use the ammo lock this time.

 

[emi1990]

I'm going to try ammo lock today.
I have had my tank set up for 2 months and i am still having ammonia issues.
After a lot of water changes and still getting 0.25 to 0.5 ammonia readings i just tested my tap water out of interest and my levels are 0.25 in my tap water!!!! So this has been causing some of the problem!!

Can you put ammo lock in the water with fish in or do you need to remove the fish?

I know this doesnt take the ammonia out but it makes it less harmful to the fish and as for my tap water having ammonia in i am in the process of ringing the water company because im pretty sure thats not meant to be in there!!!


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[Fresh2o]

Back in late 2012 water out of the tap was reading 1.0 ppm ammonia! However, tank readings were always zero ammonia on account of the well established BB. The only time I detected ammonia was when testing was done shortly after a 75% WC. The following day i detected a trace of nitrite. For the remainder of the year I still performed regular WCs, however, I kept them in the 30-50% range. Mysteriously, in 2013 the ammonia in the tap was back to zero.
I think your fish will be okay in your situation. If using ammo-lock, simply add it to the new water (assuming you are using a bucket). I don't think adding it directly to the tank will be a problem.


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[Matt68005]

API also makes ammo lock chips that you put in your tank and they last about a week. Otherwise just use prime, or both.

 

[emi1990]

I already use tap safe but i think it just gets rid of the chlorine really. Doesn't mention ammonia.

The ammo chips, I dont think they make filter bags for my filter so would they work still if i bought a filter bag and put it at the bottom of the tank underneath the filter stream?

Thanks


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[Delapool]

I've done that with api nitra-zorb for QT. Maybe not quite as effective but it did make a difference. I just had it directly under a hob outlet.