Isabella

I use this dechlorinator all the time, and so far it's been working great for me (but my tap water has 0 ammonia, so that's why, lol). It removes chlorine, chloramine, and heavy metals. But it doesn't remove ammonia. Now, I'm not sure if it'll remove your ammonia just because it removes chloramine, because as I have said before, chloramine must first break down into chlorine and ammonia before that ammonia can be removed. But if you already have ammonia coming from your tap water, I don't know if Aqua Plus (or any other conditioner that removes chlorine and chloramine) will remove the ammonia. From the products that I've heard about, Prime removes ammonia from the water right away, as well as it removes chlorine and chloramine. There are probably other products too that remove ammonia, but I don't know much about them. Normally, I wouldn't recommend using any commercial products to alter water chemistry (except the basic dechlorinator), but your situation is different as you have ammonia in your tap water.

Tumbleweed

Well the aqua plus does not appear to have any effect of the ammonia in the water.* i am not sure what else to do.* Is the ammonia level high enough that I should worry that it is toxic for them?* I guess that I will go and buy a bottle of Prime and give that a try.* Thanks isabella

Tumbleweed

After I put the prime in the water how long should I wait to test it to see if it had any effect? An immediate test shows no change.

Isabella

In my opinion, an ammonia level of 20 ppm is VERY toxic. I say this because ammonia is generally considered dangerous even in very small amounts, so 20 ppm of ammonia has to be very dangerous. As for Prime, I've never used it, so you may want to ask that question someone who has experience with it. The reason I recommended this product is because others (who are much more experienced and knowledgeable than I am) have told me it's very good. I learned about it on PlantGeek.net when I was looking for the right dechlorinator for my planted tank. They told me to use it. And by the way, I've learned it not only removes chlorine and chloramine, but also ammonia. You may want to ask about Prime on PlantGeek.net - I am sure someone will know about it there. But as with most of the testing, I think it would be best for you to wait 24 hours (after you've added Prime to your water) to test the water for ammonia. But as I have said before, you may ask this on PlantGeek.net to be 100% sure. Good luck.

Tumbleweed

OK I just retested the water in my tank and found:

Ph 7.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 40ppm

I guess that it must be chloromine in the tap water and it takes 24 hours for the conditioner to take care of it. My nitrate level is still high but I am less consurned about it as I am the ammonia. I plan on doing 30-50% water changes every day for the next week or 2 to get the nitrate levels to go down.