MSteel

Let me cut to the chase and leave the long story out because this is an emergency - my tap water has an ammonia reading of 2.0 PPM straight from the tap. How am I supposed to do a water change? We have a water softener, but that's bad to use right? We have bottled water, but that's bad too...

Should I use AmQuel at every water change?

Thanks!
Jessica

55james55

hey hows it going wat do u need help with im james a experert with fish and every thing to do with fish

MSteel

I don't know how to handle the bad tap water. I'm pooring in 2.0 ppm ammonia during a water change. I've already lost 4 of my angel fish and my cory cat. I have one angelfish and a platy hanging on.

Thanks!

55james55

im sorry about ur other fish

but are u just putting tap water in the tank
if u are DONT do that cos that kills the fish its not good for them

kk


cheers james

Mike

What about getting one of those water filters that plug in directly to the faucet? I use the PUR filter for my saltwater tank water changes and replace evaporated water with it. Use the amquel until you find out if a filter will fix the prob.

http://www.purwaterfilter.com/

55james55

wat mike said i think would work jess try that ur fish might do alot better wtih wat mark said

MSteel

Hi James,

I use the Python (http://www.pythonproducts.com/), they say that you can use water straight from your tap if you use a dechlorinating agent. Is this not true?

If so, how will I remove the ammonia from my tap water by letting it sit - the way I would to let the chlorine evaporate?

Thanks so much,
Jessica

And losing the fish was terrible! We went to bed and they were all happy and healthy, we woke up and they were all dead.

MSteel

Oh Mike! I hadn't thought of that!!! What a great idea!

Thanks so much,
I'll pick one up tomorrow!!!
Jessica

MSteel

If we just did a water change 2 hours ago - should I add some AmQuel in to lower the nitrite and Ammonia? Or just let it be over night? Also, does Amquel do anything to biological filtration?

JMatt1983

my tap water is so full of ammonia and chlorine i can smell it, smells like your public swimming pool lol what i use is a product called ammolock, it dechlorinates your water as well as turns ammonia into a different form that does not harm fish

Mike

The main culprit here sounds like chloramine which is composed of ammonia and chlorine. Maybe your water company just puts in a little more than usual While chlorine will evaporate from the water after a few days I don't believe that chloramine will evaporate.

I think the ammo lock and amquel essentially do the same thing - detoxify ammonia. I would continue to use the amquel with your water changes until you can get a filter and see if the filter removes the ammonia (or chloramine) from the tap water. As far as the cycle goes, amquel could potentially slow the cycle since ammonia is what gets the cycle started and keeps it going, albeit in smaller amounts than 2 ppm.

I use the python as well on my freshwater tanks and just add the proper amount of dechlorinator directly into the stream of replacement water coming out of the python. I've had no ill effects from doing this but would urge caution if you are using a python vacuum in a breeding tank or if you have more sensitive fish species. For my saltwater tanks, I only use the python to remove water and then I use aged saltwater (in 5 gallon buckets) to replenish the water I've removed with the python. I do love the python by the way.

Also, since you already have fish and if your tank isn't cycled, you are in for an uphill battle. Use your test kits frequently and plan on frequent water changes for many weeks until the cycle has started detoxifying the ammonia and nitrites on it's own. That is, once you can reduce the amount of ammonia coming out of the tap. Good luck and keep us posted.

MSteel

Hi Folks!

I just wanted to thank every one for all their help and to let you know the details of how it turned out.

We bought a PUR filter, but that only helped the ammonia level a little bit, so we had to use the ammolock anyway.

I started thinking back to what went wrong - all of my biological filtration must have gotten zapped when we added some new fish. While we were acclimating the new fish, the bag accidentally sank into the tank. I didn't think much of it at the time because the fish were coming from a reputable source, what I should have realized is that they were treated with ick medication when they were placed in the bag (standard practice for my LFS).

Anyway, I bought a third filter (another Fluval 304), replaced my bio wheels, and started doing daily water changes relying on Stress Zyme to kick start my biological filtration. It WORKED!!! We stopped feeding our fish completely, some days we had to do two water changes, but we didn't lose a fish. Within two weeks our tank and fish were happy and healthy. We even have an algae bloom just starting so things are very healthy for our beautiful fish.

Thanks again to all that helped. You all know how devastating it is when those water readings just aren't right.
Jessica