tap water ammonia

[skoom]

I've been testing my tank and showed ammonia 0.25ppm. I thought it was an ammonia spike, but all my tanks (4/3/2 foot) tested positive and i thought something's fishy here....

i tested the tap water and it read 0.25ppm

actions so far....

1. added ammolock...i think i may have poured this stuff in...

2. water changes as often as possible @ 50%.

3. i cleaned out the canister for the 4' which has caused ammonia to rise from 0.25ppm to 1.0ppm... and probably rising...should i get the fish out of this tank? i have 7 bnoses in there.

4. can't sleep......going nuts.

5. moved 4 out of 6 discus to friend's display tank. They should be safe.

The fish are yet to be listless or symptomatic, but i want to take action before they show signs of poisoning.

What should i do.....other than water changes around the clock... i am getting some bacterial additives now.

will keep posted...

[Merrilyn]

Wow what a horrible thing. Skoom, you are doing everything possible mate. The AmmoLock that you used will bind up the ammonia so it's in a non toxic form. It will still show a reading on your test kit, because it's still in the water, although now in a safer form.

If your tap water is still showing a reading of ammonia, then there's no need to do more than one waterchange a day, because you're just adding more ammonia at each waterchange. Just keep testing the tap water daily, till you find the reading clear, then you know you can go back to your normal routine. Till then you'll have to add ammolock at each waterchange.

The added bacteria will help to boost your bio filter, and you can also get a product called Ammo Ball which is a green plastic ball filled with ammonia absorbing crystals.

It's just a matter of waiting it out now.

Good luck.

[skoom]

thanks ladyred... your words are so reassuring.

I tested both in house taps and common taps in townhouse complex and both are positive at 0.25-0.5ppm. Hope it's not something nasty that's rotting away in my local pipes...or maybe just the drought. I'm in the St. George area in Sydney, maybe someone near by might want to check their tap water too...just to be on the safe side.

will keep up to date....

[skoom]

Would it be possible that there is some other chemical that cross reactions with ammonia to give a reading?

Doesn't sound too healthy if our tap water contains ammonia....what if we've got liver failure or something...

so far no casualties....fingers crossed.

[Merrilyn]

I wonder if a phone call to your water board might help with some answers.

I seem to remember someone posting that their water had an ammonia reading while the water board was doing some work on the pipes in their area.

I'd also be inclined to check with your local fish shop. There must be others in the area having the same troubles.

[skoom]

Will be done first thing in the morning.

thx ladyred.

meanwhile....SLS are getting new fish and i have no tanks....boohoo...

[skoom]

The ammonia in tap water is persistent at 0.5ppm.

I was recommended to use Seachem PRIME by the LFS.

It claims that it 'removes' 0.6mg/L and later says it 'converts ammonia into a safe, non-toxic form'. So I am assuming i'll still get an ammonia reading after adding the product, only it's safer.

I would like to ask how do you convert 'ppm' into 'mg/L'? Will Prime cover the 0.5ppm in my tap water at its recommended dose?

Also, the tank smells foul. Is it really because of Prime?

[Ben]

Hi skoom,
that sound really bad about your water!
I dont trust mains water at all!

Only today i was filling a white bucket from the tap and the colour was tainted a slight brown colour!
And to think we drink and shower in it!

I Use an RO unit, which does an excellent job of filtering the nasties!

I had a quick look through some books about converting 'ppm' into 'mg/L'
i could not find anything!

But in the mean time i will keep looking or until someones already knows and puts a post up.

I personally have never used any type of water ager as i believe in taking the bad stuff out of the water and not putting things in.

well......thats just me......

cheers,
Ben

[Dee]

Hi Skoom,

Sorry to hear the troubles your having with the ammonia readings :x

Regarding the Prime, from what I have read in the past you may still get a ammonia reading when testing ... but the reading will be the ammonia present converted into the "safer non toxic form".

I have always thought ppm and mg/L where basiclly the same measurement ... don't quote me on this though :oops: maybe it's ppm = millilitre :oops: :oops:

Best of luck with it all Skoom !

Cheers,

Dee :)

[dreamer]

anyone else in sydney can confirm positive ammonia reading in their tap water?

i cant remember when was the last time i checked my water parameters.

i dont see any different behaviour from all my fish as i just did large wc 60%+

[skoom]

I tested tap water in Kingsford, 20km away from where I live and returned a 0.5ppm reading from tap water.

I am quite sure it is not my test kit as I have tested 0ppm for a cycled tank, and also tested the tap water at my LFS which was also positive for ammonia.

This has been the case for at least the last week.

To be honest I didn't notice much behavioural change with the fish, possibly because of all the driftwood i have in the tank to keep the pH acidic and hence less toxic.

According to Sydney Water website 80% of Sydney water comes from Prospect (Reservior) Water Treatment Centre, which is the source of my tap water.

Hopefully another member can confirm the presence of ammonia in their water so I'm not going nuts for nothing.

I'll try to get to the bottom of this.

Anyhow, should I really be so concerned about ammonia readings of 0.5ppm? Like if you were in my shoes would you take action or just doing daily w/c as per usual. Any comments appreciated.

I will age my water a few days to see how long it takes for ammonia to disappear...if it will. (normal routine age overnight)

[dreamer]

i dont have ammonia test kit (thrown away) so i'll pretend i know nothing about ammonia present in my water :p

[Benny]

I'll check my water later today

[skoom]

I rang up Sydney Water and they said I should expect a reading of 0.32mg/L of ammonia.

It's just strange because I've never had a reading from tap water before...

I think I'll have to switch to Prime from Stress coat to treat the water.

I have aged my water for three days and still have a reading of 0.25ppm.

[Merrilyn]

Skoom, I wonder if that means they're adding chloramine to the water now.

My knowledge of chemistry is limited, but from what I understand, chlorine is bound to ammonia to form chloramine, which is a more stable form of chlorine, and is used by some water boards.

I wonder if that accounts for the reading of ammonia you're getting.

Hopefully someone with a bit more chemistry knowledge than me, can give us more information.

[skoom]

Sorry for getting all fussed up about this issue but I think I'll just have to live with the ammonia in the water (indefinitely) and switch over to prime as a pretreatment for the time being. Will look into a product ?Aquastar in the near future.

Cheers all.

addit: The chap on the phone that I spoke to did mention about ammonia + chlorine = chloramine in the water. He stated that in this form the water we drink will not taste like 'chlorine'. The way he explained it was like 'a matter of fact', but I'm sure I never used to get positive ammonia readings from the tap. Cheers.

[Benny]

im using aquastar, and its fantasic, my tank never shows a trace of ammonia....

[piranha-discus]

skoom try use aqua star as i told u in private message. its a worth product. it works good for me.
http://www.aquariumproducts.com.au/category36_1.htm
,,,ben.

[skoom]

Thanks for the tip mate. Sounds like a good product. Will get around ordering it soon. Cheers.

[ozarowana]

Ammonia test kits (mine anyway) will pick up Chloramine.

ppm = mg/L

ppt = g/L

[skoom]

thanks mate.

like dreamer i'll just pretend it's not there, but using prime in the meantime to remove it. Will get aquastar when this bottle is finished. but considering how little you have to use each time it might take a while.