ammonia NEVER goes below .25

[tallchik77]

okay, i know that ideally my tank should always be at 0 ppm for ammonia. However, I have had my tank running for a year now and i do frequent water changes, plus vaccuuming (i used to have gravel, now i have sand) and my ammonia has always stayed at a consistent .25 ppm. my fish are healthy, and swim and have a good time, doesn't SEEM to bother them. the only reason I am concerned about it now is because I just had a really bad nitrate jump so i have been doing water changes every day. nitrates are now between 10 and 20, nitrites are at 0, and ammonia is still at .25. I am moving my fish to a 20 gal, hopefully today or tomorrow and I'm concerned that if the few fish i have cause ammonia to be at .25 in a 55 gal, what are they going to do to my 20 gal?!?!?! any ideas on why ammonia is up?

 

[thincat]

Is this a FW setup or a SW setup? Sorry I see it now...FW setup. I don't think you are having an ammonia problem. What is your PH reading. If your PH is 7 or lower this would change ammonia to ammonium which is not toxic to FW fish at those very low values.

 

[Vircomore]

You may want to check the LOT # on your Ammonia test. If it has expired (and they can expire) it may be giving you a false reading.

You could also take some water to the local store and have them test it and see what they find.

Also, what filter are you using? It could be that you're filter is too small for a 55gal and can't process your water volume enough to get rid of that lingering 0.25.

 

[tallchik77]

you know, the filter might be the issue. i have a topfin power 60. hmmmm, and i've been playing around with the idea of getting a new one. i think thats exactly what i should do now. I will definitely take some water to the lfs aswell. thank you! do you think it would be okay to move to the 20 gal if the ammonia is at .25? heres the list of fishies i have:
1 rubberlip pleco
1 black molly
2 african dwarf frogs
3 guppies
3 zebra danios
5 cory cats
1 khuli loach
6 neon tetras

 

[tallchik77]

okay ph is between 6.6 and 7 (i'm terrible at trying to figure out the color chart) i would say a bit closer to 6.6 though because it was more green than the water i checked from the tap. straight from the tap the ph was 7.6 i'm such a terrible fish mommy. i just assumed that my ph would stay the same in my tank as it would from my faucet so i haven't been checking the ph. okay, so, what now? is it okay to leave it there? i believe i have a couple of fish that like a little more ph in their diet

 

[dkpate]

Yayy for WA!

Are you planning on putting ALL of those fish in the 20? I don't think that's a good idea. Maybe if you split them up between the two tanks.
How often do you change part of the water?
Are you changing out the filter media?
Nitrates are fine up to 40ppm also.

 

[tallchik77]

i am planning on putting them all in the 20 gal. i am taking down the 55 gal for a while so seperating them isn't an option. i change the water every two weeks but will be doing water changes every week when they switch to the 20 gal and i will be keeping a very very close eye on the parameters. when my nitrates went up really high, they went up REALLY high. way higher than 40 =( so sad. i do change out the filter media. i'm going to be adding a sponge prefilter in the next week or so and then I'm going to be considering a new filter all together. on a lighter note you're the first person i've met on here from washington!!!!

 

[dkpate]

Ok, don't change the whole filter media, that is probably why you are seeing ammonia. Don't change it unless it's falling apart or you need new carbon to remove meds.
Putting them all in the 20 gallon is going to be overcrowded, and you are going to have to change the water more than once a week. My tanks are stocked at 20-70% and I change 50% of my water once a week.

I love WA! Are you guys getting snow?

 

[tallchik77]

no snow today. my filter hold 2 catridges and i only chane one at a time. someone mentioned something about the quality of my filter in general and i think that might be the issue. its a topfin

 

[dkpate]

Yeah it might just be the filter. I got tanks that came with filters, and I took those out and got better ones.
Just rinse the media in old tank water and put it back in.

 

[i3k]

What test kit are you using?

 

[tallchik77]

api test kit

 

[i3k]

is it the new api test kit? seems like lots of people are having difficulty reading the color charts(ammonia at least) on the new api test kit. The ammonia color bar is probably off a shade...I've tested all 3 of my tanks that have been running for years and all 3 show 0.25 ammonia. I then tested the tanks again with the older version api test kit, and the results show 0 ammonia.

 

[mommytron]

i don't think the quality of the filter is the problem, but rather the size. it's a good idea for your filter capacity to be double the size of the tank. since you have a filter rated for60gal on a 55gal, your filter isn't able to filter as much water as it should. i run tetra whispers on mytanks, which aren't the greatest filters, but since i have 2 30's on a 27g and a 30 on a 20g (and they are somewhat understocked) the filters do a pretty good job.

i think a new filter that is rated for 100g+ (or you could just get a second 60, since it's a good idea to have one on each end of such a long tank) would do the trick.

and i have to agree with dk, that stock list is too large fora 20 gallon. your fish will be overcrowded and there will be a greater chance of aggression and general discomfort. keep the 55g up if you can, or get another 10g or 20g to split them up in.