Water Levels Question

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Fender1958

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jun 27, 2011
Messages
29
Set up:
55 gallon, Gravel, Fluval 405 (full bio), 5 mid light plants(small), Basic tropical fish

Question:
My tap water Ammonia level is between .25-.5ppm, but in the aquarium it's 0ppm. Although I'm not complaining I was wondering how this is possible and what should I use in case the ammonia in the tank goes up. Should I keep adding plants? I rent so there's no change, such as filter, etc., to the tap that I can do.

All other levels are perfect, pH is 7.8 but stable.
 
I imagine what you are seeing is that the water is degassing with time. Do a test, take a cup of water, run your test on it. Let it sit 12-24 hours and retest. I bet your trace of ammonia goes away. I'm assuming this is due to the additions of chlorine or chloramine by your water utility.

Here's a great article about it:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/making-tap-water-safe-for-the-aquarium/
 
Last edited:
tap water.25-.5 for ammo, in your tank its 0. this will happen as your tank has many beneficial bacteria
 
I imagine what you are seeing is that the water is degassing with time. Do a test, take a cup of water, run your test on it. Let it sit 12-24 hours and retest. I bet your trace of ammonia goes away. I'm assuming this is due to the additions of chlorine or chloramine by your water utility.

Here's a great article about it:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/making-tap-water-safe-for-the-aquarium/

Thanks ill do that now and the article is very helpful. Lets Go Rangers.
 
Thanks ill do that now and the article is very helpful. Lets Go Rangers.

You just had to go there!! ;) Good luck!

Spike has a valid point, depending on how long after you added the tap water until you tested, the bacteria could have consumed some of the ammonia. I wouldn't expect it to be instant though, that is why I was thinking of it off gassing.
 
You just had to go there!! ;) Good luck!

Spike has a valid point, depending on how long after you added the tap water until you tested, the bacteria could have consumed some of the ammonia. I wouldn't expect it to be instant though, that is why I was thinking of it off gassing.

Well it's been about 2 weeks now since adding new water and plants. I kept doing water changes and still had high ammonia so I kind of neglected it out of frustration/wanting to see what the filter would do. Tested it today and all was well. Got me thinking to test the tap even though I have tested it in the past and it was good. So maybe a bit of everything.
 
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