phil saint

I had to move my tank so had to empty all the water for the move, it took me less than an hour to do and i managed to keep around 50% of the water so there was a 50% water change, i also used the gravel vac on close to half of the gravle. Iv now done my weekly test this morning after leaving the tank to settle last night....and my ammonia is showing at 0.50 PPM (usualy 0ppm-0.25ppm) pH is fine 7.5 (dip test) 7.6 (drop test) nitrite and nitrate are 0ppm (dip test) temp is 24'c. i used nutrafin aqua plus to condition the water, iv tested the tap water and the ammonia is between 0ppm and 0.25ppm (cant say exactly because its niether 1 colour or the other) could this be the cause ? should i find another source ? i was going to start daily water changes but if this is the source ? it wont help ?

the tank is 110 L (just over a month and a half old)

25 Fish-
-10 neons
-4 black neons
-4 glowlights
-2 dwarf guoramis
-4 gupys
-1 oto

the food is aquarian tropical flake and every 2 days the oto gets a couple of tetra prima granuals, all the food is always eaten within 2-3mins

I think thats all the relevant info, if you need to know anything else please ask...thanks in advance Phil.

jdhef

Welcome to FishLore!

A fully cycled tank should read zero for ammonia and nitrites, so I'm not sure why you would have been between 0 and .25 normally, unless it is just a reading the color properly problem (i'm color blind, so it is a bit of a problem for me.)

Adding tap water that contains ammonia will make the ammonia levels in your tank rise. Also moving the tank may have disturbed the bacteria enough to put you into a mini cycle (which hopefully will not last long).

I woiuld suggest using a product called Prime as your water conditioner. Since you have ammonia in your water, the Prime will detox the ammonia for 24 hours at which point your tank should be able to process it.

Good Luck!

aquarist48

Hello Phil and Welcome to Fish Lore. I would like to suggest that you consider purchasing an API (liquid) Master test kit. (or is this what you call the dropper test?) The liquid tests are much more reliable and accurate compared to the test strips, and easier to read. The reason you may be showing ammonia in your tank could be that you're in a mini cycle due to over cleaning your tank. I would test your tap water with the liquid test before considering another water source. If indeed your tap does contain ammonia, then another water source may be necessary as any amounts of ammmonia can be toxic to your fish. Add some Prime to your tank to detox the ammonia and keep up with your water changes.

Let's get some more responses on your tap water containing ammonia.
Best of luck and I hope you enjoy the site. We love photos!
Ken

phil saint

Yes the ammonia test kit is the liquid kind i also have the test strips but find them very inconsistant and difficult to read accuratly. i have tested my water source 2 more times today and both have showed 0ppm so im assuming the bad reading from my tap was a bluff reading of some discription, i will be picking up some prime later today and using that with my water change tommorrow.

thanks to both aquarist48 and jdhef for the help

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore !!!
Great advice from everyone!! but im wondering if you have any live plants at all? because you should have a nitrate reading in a cycled tank(the test strips could be wrong as others have mentioned) ...a mini cycle is when you had 0 for ammonia/nitrites and under 20 nitrates...but live plants can eat up your nitrates sometimes hence why i asked about them...seeing how the tank is only a little over a month old, im wondering if its still in a full cycling phase?

Once the tank is fully cycled, it should have no problem eating up a .25 ammonia from your tap with water changes...the bacteria will be nice and established to do so...so that shouldnt be a major issue down the road....

thorpbrian

For the nitrate test on the API test kit make sure you bang the #2 bottle against the table and then shake it for a minute or two. That makes sure that it is well mixed and will give you an accurate reading. I've heard of people who have never gotten a positive nitrate reading with their liquid test kit even when they knew their tank was cycled because the test liquid in bottle #2 had seperated, giving inaccurate readings.

phil saint

hi shawnie.... i have no live plants in the tank (would you recommend ?) tests this morning show a drop in ammonia to 0.25ppm thats before iv done the water change, also none of my kids have been phased not even the neons. so i going to keep up the water changes as they seem to be working...im changing 25% daily untill the tests show good results (should i be doing more/less?) also should i be using the gravel vac with each daily change ?

aquarist48

Hello Phil. Good point from Shawnie about the ammonia in your tap and your cycled tank being able to process that low amount of ammonia. That was good news! Even better news that you got two 0 amounts in your other tests from your tap! yeah!!!

I don't think a gravel vacuum is necessary with every water change at this point. You don't want to over clean your tank. A lot of your good bacteria is in your substrate as well so I would just suggest changing the water only for now. Once you're cycle is back to 0 0 under 20 then continue with the gravel vacs. Add the Prime. I think the 25% daily until you get those #'s above with the Prime should be fine.
Ken

phil saint

I thought that would be the case with the gravel vac but i wasnt sure (still learning ha). the shop i use has asked me to take a water sample from the tank and they will do a more comprehensive test for me. how long after doing a water change should i test the water ? would that give me a false reading if i do it to soon after ?

I tried to upload some pics after you mentioned yesterday but its not working but i'll keep trying.......thanks again for the help
Phil.

aquarist48

Hello Phil. Your photos may be too large for the site to handle. Here is a link that will help you to resize your photos if necessary:
Free Online Picture Resizer - Crop and Resize photos, images, or pictures online for FREE!
If you want an accurate reading of your ammonia level, do a test right after the water change and before you add the Prime to detox it.
Ken