Still not quite there.q

[MichaelsLilGray]

Ive been doing 9 gallon changes to my 29 gallon for about 3 days now. The tap water here was toxic in ammonia and i was unaware when i setup and cycled the tank. spring water seems to be the only thing i can use also. But now my question is.. Ammonia has risen with the use of spring water. although when i tested it it showed 0. my ammonia is close to the 5ppm PH is at 6.5 nitrites 0 and nitrates 15-20. What can i do to fix this?

 

[bs6749]

Is the "spring water" from your faucet or from the store? It makes no sense if you are adding water that has no ammonia and the level is increasing upon changing water. Something is either wrong with your test kit or the results. It's just not possible. When is the last time that you checked your "spring water"? I'm assuming that it is from your tap and I've heard that it can fluctuate from season to season. Maybe it is reading more like 5ppm now whereas in the past it read 0. That's the only thing I can think of.

What is in the tank now? I'd highly recommend doing a PWC of at least 20 gallons right away. Let the tank settle then maybe do another one first thing tomorrow morning. That will drastically lower the toxic levels. If there is indeed ammonia present in your tap water you are going to want to treat it with Prime or something similar. It will still show up on test kits as "ammonia" though it will be converted to an ammonia compound that isn't harmful to the fish. A low pH is actually good when you have high nitrates like that. It makes them less toxic to the fish as well.

 

[Alaris]

BS:
No, the TAP water is what he's claiming to be toxic. That's why he's buying spring water. He's been having issues with his tap water for awhile.

Gray:
Can't you give your fish up (sell back to store or give to a friend) until you figure out what's up with your tank and what to do about your water? You're stressing yourself out AND your fish. I think that if you gave up the fish you'd be able to think about what to do and execute a solution better if you didn't also have to worry about keeping the fish alive.

(PS Sorry I don't know if you're male or female, I just use "he" as default.)

 

[bs6749]

Yeah, I misread. It doesn't make sense how the spring water (supposedly pure) is adding to the ammonia level though.

 

[Alaris]

Yeah, I misread. It doesn't make sense how the spring water (supposedly pure) is adding to the ammonia level though.

I agree that it is odd. I also don't understand how come Prime isn't properly treating the chloramine in his tap water.

 

[bs6749]

Prime will neutarlize it but it will be converted to another ammonia/amine compound that will still register on tests but won't be harmful to fish at the same time.

 

[roka64]

You can run purigen in one of your filters (if you have one):
http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=4190

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

dont get me wrong im not stressing over the matter. the fish are behaving and acting fine. the ammonia doesnt seem to be effecting them negatively at all. i am just at a loss of words how water that has no trace of ammonia.. is showing the same ammounts of ammonia even after a pwc.. while cleaning the gravel/sand, each time.

I just did a 50% pwc btw.. took the ammonia from 5 to 2ppm.. ill do another one tomorrow. im using 85% distilled and 15% spring.. so hopefully this will put an end to all this.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

the bottom line is.. tyler water blows roflmao

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

Alrighty... after a 45-50% waterchange stats are as follows..
PH - 6.4 (dropped .2.. dont know why)
Ammo - 1.5 (dropped from 5ppm)
Nitrites - 1.0 (i have some now!)
Nitrates - 15

Going to do another 50 probably tonight.. hoping to kill that ammo completely.. Wish the fish luck lol

 

[saffikeagan]

It's great that you have nitrites. You might want to consider a PWC sooner than tonight though if you've got 1.0--that's a bit high for the fish....course if they've survived all that ammonia....

I do not envy you your water.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

i went and got some bretta water filters.. if they can remove all these contaminants im guessing it could pull out the ammonia too.. im running one right now and going to test it asap to see how well it works.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

They are bogus roflmao.. and to think i use to drink from these thinking it helped roflmao Spring water>Bretta water filtration.

 

[saffikeagan]

Water filters will filter out metals etc, but not the chloramines that is causing you to have really high ammonia readings. Hence, any water you'll find filtered in your area will also have the horribly high ammonia readings.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

It removes Cloramine and clorine.. or so it says on the box lol

 

[Alaris]

Chloramine will STILL register as AMMONIA on your test kit after you've treated it. It's now in a non-toxic form and you just have to trust that it's not going to hurt your fish. BUT you will STILL see it on your test kit.

 

[saffikeagan]

Huh...well if the box says.......

 

[Alaris]

I don't know why you'd want to use a water filter when you know that Prime already takes care of the chloramine.

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

I had the filter already.. just needed a cartrage to put in it. id still prefer drinking my water from that pitcher anyday of the week lol

 

[MichaelsLilGray]

You can run purigen in one of your filters (if you have one):
Aquarium Chemical Filter Media: Seachem Purigen

i ran one for a day now.. removing it. it made the water cristal clear.. however it completely screwed up my numbers lol.. and isnt touching the ammonia.


First number is Current reading - Second number is past reading.
Ammonia 2ppm from 2ppm
PH 7.6 from 6.3 (almost overnight.. stupid distilled water >.<)
Trite 1.0 from 0.25 (overnight)
Trate 10 from 20 (overnight)

Why is this thing screwing with my water so much? Distilled's lack of buffer?