T3Knical5urg3

Well here I am again. I find myself at UIUC, but this time with two new friends. My two bettas came with me to keep me company. Filled there tanks used their old media to avoid a full cycle. Tested the water and the ammonia was 1ppm! I immediately did a 50% water change. Recheck the water and ammonia reads 1ppm! Then I tested the water straight from the tap, and what would you know the tap reads 1ppm ammonia. Is there anything i can do or am i going to have to put ammonia in their tank whenever i do a waterchange?

Cody

well you might want to figure out why theres ammonia in the water, for all you no there could be a dead rat or somthing in your water source, im not sure wat you could do there are products the remove amoina bu ti dont thing there are many that will remove it with our regular treatment

nitz

Well I'm thinking that by using Prime, it'll detoxify the ammonia for a day so then your bacteria can convert it to nitrite then nitrate. So I think that if you have to deal with the ammonia from the tap, you'd have to build up your bacteria to handle the added ammonia. So, this is just my thinking and I'm probably wrong about it, but if you increase the frequency of your water changes, the added ammonia will be there and the extra bacteria won't die back with the lack of ammonia. Did that make sense? Basically, if you want to avoid mini cycles every time you do a water change, you need extra bacteria, and to keep that bacteria from building up and dying back all the time, you can increase the frequency of your water changes to maybe every 3-4 days.

Someone can correct me if my idea is just crazy but I think that would be a good way to deal with it.

seagullnz

hi, where I live in Canada the water reads 1.0 ammonia from the tap.

When I first discovered it I freaked out! But after my 10G finally cycled there was enough good bacteria to convert the water in around 24 hours.

So weekly I do a water change of around 9 litres, add prime and some vitachem, and then retest the water 24 hours later and it reads 0 ammonia.

Hope this helps

jdhef

You could use bottled water.

Cody

that sounds good you could just buy a gallon of water or if you want to use bottled water or basicaly whatever isnt the tap water, since with a 2.5 you dont take a ton out for water changes it wont be to much of a hit on your pocket to have some ammoina free water, good idea jdhef

T3Knical5urg3

uh its a 20 gallon... I dont think buying water is realistic

Lucy

I agree with Nitz.

Use Prime as your water conditioner, it'll detoxify the ammonia. I believe you'll still get a reading for it though.

Once the cycle is complete, the bacteria should be able to process it.

jdhef

Sorry, but in my defense your aquarium profile says 2.5 gallons.

T3Knical5urg3

Sry your right I havent really changed that for a while. I have 2 5 gal and a 20 gal now... But your right. My bad

Chief_waterchanger

Nitz, your idea sounded so far outside the box that it may actually work. Good job.

If the tank is fully cycled it should take care of the added ammonia within a day or two.

nitz

Thanks Chief!! Getting a compliment from you has made my day!!

COBettaCouple

Yea, I think that's a good plan and if you can find Fish Protector (or if you can order it), I'd use that in addition to the Prime for treating all the water.

Earthling84

Water from the tap is probably just fine. Even with some ammonia you have got some good responses as to how to maybe fix that problem.

As for water in store. It would hit your money pocket a little, but most stores around here have water filling stations where u can get multiple gallons for low cost(like 5 gallons for $3). $3 a week isn't a huge hit, but it is an added expense.