john169

I have a question about water that I treated with Prime. I have bottles of tap water treated with Prime and the reading is .50 ammonia. Is this normal? This is the same reading I get from the tap untreated.
I used API master kit to do the tests.
Thanks

Evelyn1919

HI,
i think prime just makes the ammonia non toxic to your fish so you'll still have ammonia readings.

someone please correct me if i'm wrong.

jdhef

I guess it is possible that you have some ammonia in your tap water.

On the other hand you could be color blind, like me. I really wish they would come out with a digital test kit!

Evelyn1919

or at least one that actually works cuz i've heard of some but they are not very accurate. and yes there is probably ammonia in your water. it happens to a lot of people.

john169

Yes the reading is the same from the tap.
Is the treated water ok to use in the tank?

Evelyn1919

yes, it should be fine. even though you have a reading of ammonia it is just non toxic for your fish anymore.

once again i'm not 100% sure so i'm hoping someone comes to the rescue soon!!! but i think that's what i've read.

jdhef

From what I've read Cloramine contains Ammonia. So if you use a product such as Prime, ammonia is released when the chloramine is removed. But since ammonia in the form of NH4 is toxic to fish, the Prime converts the NH4 into NH3 which is still ammonia, but not toxic to fish.

From what I've read, if you pH is below 7 then any ammonia in your tank is NH3 and non toxic and if your ph is above 7 then you have NH4 in your tank which is toxic.

john169

The PH in the tank is 7.8 which is that same from the tap.
Any suggestions?
Thank you!

jdhef

I'm not a very good writer, so I hope I didn't confuse you. I was actually trying to state two different thoughts.

The first was that the Prime (I believe) will turn the NH4 into NH3 no matter what your water's ph, rendering the ammonia non toxic to fish.

The second thought was that I read that in water with a PH under 7, that all ammonia is in the form of NH3 and therefore non-toxic to fish.

Sorry if I caused you to panic. I'm really a much better talker than writer!!!

eric_m

This is what I found..

"Initial stage: The cycle begins when fish are introduced to the aquarium. Their feces, urine, as well as any uneaten food, are quickly broken down into either ionized or unionized ammonia. The ionized form, Ammonium (NH4), is present if the pH is below 7, and is not toxic to fish. The unionized form, Ammonia (NH3), is is present if the pH is 7 or above, and is highly toxic to fish. Any amount of unionized Ammonia (NH3) is dangerous, however once the levels reach 2 PPM, the fish are in grave danger. Ammonia usually begins rising by the third day after introducing fish."

http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/bi...rogencycle.htm

hope it helps..

jdhef

Oops! Got the NH3 & NH4 mixed up in my previous posts...sorry!

John

pepetj

Waht plants do you have? Maybe add more plants? I know apple snails keep most healthy (they would eat some, like Giant Baby Tears -my experience), dedicated gardeners. My suggestions: bundles of fast growing, low light as Anacharis, Hornwort. These plants should bring your ammonia to zero.
How big is your in tank filter?

Pepe
Santo Domingo

mlinden84

The plants will keep NITRATES down, but not ammonia.



John169- It is ok to use the tap water that has been treated with Prime, even though it has an ammonia reading of .5 ppm. The Prime binds the ammonia and makes it safe for fish. I have .25 ppm of ammonia in my tap water where I live. I use Prime and have never had ammonia related problems with any of my tanks.

pepetj

Michelle: I thought plants used ammonia as nutrient, guess I was wrong.
Thanks for clarifying it for me. Good to know.

Pepe
Santo Domingo

mlinden84

Wouldn't it be nice if they did

Calab

I can't say for sure if the API kit measures all the ammonia or just the toxic ammonia.

What happens when you treat your water with a double dose of Prime? Do the readings change then?

mlinden84

It should be the same. Prime doesn't actually remove the ammonia, it just makes it so it's not toxic to the fish. I am assuming that if you use a double dose (and you have really high ammonia) there will just be more Prime to bond with the ammonia that you have.