Ammonia a bit higher now

[Dbouchard]

it was at 0.25 consistently, but this morning when I checked it was at 0.5

I did a water change right then (6 am yikes) and it went back down to 0.25

I plan on checking this evening


should I start doing my water changes 2x daily till its not spiking so high? or are they on with the prime in the water till morning when I do my water change usually?

I dont want the fish to suffer at all if i can help it, I am willing to change the water 2x a day if need be.

does the prime prevent them from suffering the effects of ammonia?

ive been treating the whole tank at each water change regardless of how many changes im doing daily

 

[Dbouchard]

oh and I try to change out about 50% of the water...im sure my measuring isnt exact but as close as i can guestimate

 

[HeatherW]

you are fine to do once a day. you can do twice a day if you want but the prime can handle your .5ppm

 

[jlk]

You should be fine doing once a day wcs as long as your using Prime & the levels arent spiking really high. If you start to see them spike between wcs (from am to pm), there is nothing wrong with doing another wc to keep levels down. Prime converts the ammonia to ammonium up to 2ppm- while its not as healthy as no ammonium, its not toxic like ammonia. Basically, use common sense & your test kit- you & your fish will be fine!

 

[Cichlid Kid]

If your aquarium has been setup and cycled for awhile and your seeing ammo readings still then it may be possible that you need more surface area for BB colonization, possibly more filter media or a larger filter altogether. Just a thought