What should be the tap water's ammonia level?

[tlan]

Hi there, I'm a newbie as you can tell. I set up my aquarium a few days ago, and I'd like to add some fish NOW! but the level of ammonia is @ 1.0 ppm. Isn't it should zero, since I dont have any fish yet? what should I do... wait or just put one fish?

 

[Lonewolfblue]

You need to cycle the tank first. 1ppm is not good for fish. If you put in fish, it will only go up. Read through the stickies, it will give you a good idea on how to do a fishless cycle.

 

[Purrbox]

Your tap water probably has Ammonia in it. Because of this you will need to make sure to pick up some Water Dechlorinator that detoxifies Ammonia. Prime and AmQuel are a couple that do.

The other possibility is that your test kit is bad. You can take a water sample to your LFS and ask them to test it for you, preferably with a different brand kit that you are using.

 

[tlan]

I was thinking to detoxify the ammonia, but I read that after you add the detoxifier the test kit will show ammonia even after you cycled and there is no ammonia present... is that true?

 

[Fishyfanatic]

You probably have Chloramines in your tap. Put water in a cup and add dechlorinator that removes chloramines (such as Prime), stir it and test after about 10 minutes. If you get a 0 Ammonia reading, it means your have chloramines in your tap. You may have ammonia in your tap also, but I'd double check to make sure. Prime is an excellent product that lasts a long time since it is concentrated.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Another thing, if your tank is not completely cycled yet, it will be best to use Prime. Once your tank is 100% cycled, even if your tap has ammonia, you shouldn't read any ammonia, as the biological filter will take care of the ammonia from the tap. If you always have an ammonia reading in your tank, it leads me to believe one of 2 things, your tank isn't completely cycled yet, or you have a faulty test kit.

 

[jsoong]

What kind of ammonia test kit do you have? Stripes or drops? If drops - one or 2 part test?

Chloramines should not register on an ammonia test kit ..... If you are reading 1.0 NH3 straight out of your tap, something is screwy. If you are using the stripes, I would ditch it, they are notorious for being inaccurate.

If you add a simple dechlorinator to tap water with chloramines, the breaking of chloramine will release ammonia. This is not a problem in an established tank - as the NH3 will be eaten up in no time. In a cycling tank with fish, it might be a problem. Best to use a dechlorinator with some ammonia binding capacity in that case. OTOH, if you are doing fishless cycling, it is not a problem. The NH3 from chloramines will just be another source of NH3 to feed your bacteria.

An NH3 binder will cause false reading in the Nessler test (one part drop test). A 2 part test (salicylate test - use for salt water) avoids the problem.

 

[tlan]

Thanks jsoong!! your post help clear a lot of doubts. My tester is a 2 part test from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals (doc wellfish), and I doubt it is faulty. So the breaking of chloramine makes much more sense. I'm using "Ammo Lock" as dechlorinator now... should that be allright, to add some fish? Since my tester is non-Nessler Should I get false ammonia reading in the future when my tank is cycled?

 

[Zagz]

Ammo lock can give false ammonia readings. If you choose to go with a cycle with fish you will need to do several, possibly daily water changes, to keep the fish healthy. A fishless cycle is easier on both you and the fish, IMO.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I agree, do fishless. Will be much less of a headache for you, unless you would be willing to do water changes either daily or every other day, depending on bioload.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I would stop using the Ammo-Lock. It gives false readings and will bind the ammonia, rendering it useless to the cycle.

 

[Mghslowell]

lonewolf. i too am a wolf follower. someday i may just take a trip to idaho and find me a pack of my own to run with

 

[Lonewolfblue]

This is just my old nick. Everywhere else I go by Northwest Wolf.

 

[jsoong]

I would stop using the Ammo-Lock. It gives false readings and will bind the ammonia, rendering it useless to the cycle.

Ammo-lock & other ammonia binders only mess up Nessler tests. The Salicylate tests will still be accurate.

It is a misconception that bound ammonia is not available to the nitrifying bacteria. The binding is reversible and the ammonia will be slowly released as it is used. I used Prime (a similar binder) during my original cycling & it worked fine. Ammo-lock's website also specifically state that the bound ammonia is available to the bacteria.

Having said all this, I would still agree that fishless is the way to go.