Coffey5030

I get my water from a well. There appears to already be ammonia in the tap water. Is this going to cause problems? I thought it might be a faulty kit but, bottled water shows no traces of it. What is going on?

Chief_waterchanger

Are you anywhere near any type of agriculture (cattle/chicken/goat/ostrich/etc farm, ranch, etc) or fertilizer places? The runoff could be getting into your water table, which is where your well pulls water from.
You could use Prime, which is a water conditioner that neutralizes the deadly properties in ammonia that would affect your fish.

Coffey5030

Wow! right on target. Thanks

Butterfly

Is the water from your well treated with anything before it comes out of the tap? What are you using to test with? strips? liquid?
Carol

Coffey5030

Straight well water. Using the API dropper kit.

MissMTS

I have ammonia in my tap water as well. I just use Prime with every water change and the ammonia reading disappears. I got freaked out when I found out that it was in my tap water, but now it doesn't make much of a difference

Butterfly

API is the best testing kit you can get in my opinion. As was suggested Prime should take care of it for you.
Also as CWC suggested you may be getting some run off from fertilizers. if so has it been tested lately for human safety?
carol

Coffey5030

I don't drink the water from my tap. It smells like sulfer......wait! Is sulfer bad bad for fish? My guess is no. There are plenty of trout downstream from sulfer springs in a nearby creek. What do you guys know?

angelfish220

You know, prime smells like sulfer too so I dont think its bad.

Once your tank is cycled the ammonia will just change anyway

and you dont have to do anything to kickstart a cycle

john b

....in the top of your hot water heater, a little valve can be seen, and if that is unscrewed and removed, a long rob is attached to it, known as a 'sacrificial annode', which serves to attract rust oxidizers and thusly extend the life of the tank walls

...if your water resource, normally smells of sulpher, the sacrifical annode may be taken out, and either plug the hole with a threaded plug that fits that hole, or install a new annode....check the prices at 'home depot' type stores

...turn off the water, and drain the tank, you may need a water hose from the tank to the door/yard....(if there is a faucet, or valve on the top of the tank it is a good idea to add a 10% bleach solution to the water to kill the smell)

....install the new annode or the plug, and refill the tank....the smell is gone

....if the water source of your home, community, etc, is at a low level, (like due to draught conditions) often that stirs up smelly stuff, even colors may be noted at times...and nothing can be done for that, it will 'go away' once the reservors and water towers are refilled

....as for "Prime" it does smell like sulpher....and if it is added to a tank of 'fouled water' the sulpher aroma will be much stronger
....like goldfish tanks really must have weekly water changes of 25%-30% about 5-10 days apart....consistently....or more often if the tanks are crowded, and also if the filter is too small for the tank capacity

....hope this helps a little bit