L a r r y

ARRRRRRGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH

I am about to go ape nuts....I finally get all my water parameters where they need to be. Nitrites 0 Ammonia 0 and Nitrates 5-10ppm. I did a water change last week and gravel cleaning and tested the water again, I then notice that my ammonia was at 8 ppm...whooooaaaaaaaaaa What is going on, I jump up and immediately do another water change. I add in my water conditioner and wait an hour....whoooooaaaaaa still at 8ppm. I hate adding chemicals to try and control things, but I have a bottle of Amquel+ so I add that to the water and start aerating the tank. I let it sit over night, doing it's thing, come home from work, only to see that the ammonia is still sky high. So off to another water change of 75% this time. So just for grins, I test the tap water, and low and behold, it is sitting right at 4ppm. Now I have tested before the tap water and it was no where near these levels. My two oscars and GT are doing pretty well, with no signs of stress or anything. Now my EBJD is showing signs of stress, rapid breathing and just hanging out at the top corner of the tank. Also his belly is swollen a little bit, but I will get into that a little later. Should I continue with adding the Amquel, and see if the ammonia levels come down, or what.....I am at a standstill for now. Any help is appreciated

Shawnie

Hi Larry...WOW that cant be good..do you have city water or a well?? if its city water, Call your local h20 company and ask them to send someone to test your water ...im not sure about amquel, but can you get some bio-spira?? that will help instantly!!! in the meantime, you mite have to get some water elsewhere..a neighbor, store etc...but keep up the at least 50% water change a day...lordy still surprised you have ammonia in your water...what kind of test kit are you using?? goodluck!

susitna-flower

The thing about the nitrogen cycle is EVEN IF you have ammonia in your tap water......if the bacteria in your tank is healthy, it will convert it into nitrate and be ok on your fish.....SO......something happened to your tank and it is no longer cycled.

It sounds like the tank cleaning you just did sent it into a mini cycle, and as shawnie said, either you do a big water change, and add bio-spira, or you have to replace that bacteria some way.....and do water changes.... 4 is better than 8....but I would be looking into why your tap water is so high ....Good Luck

L a r r y

I've been doing the maintenance the same way for a few months now, and have never had these problems. Clean half the gravel, and do the regular exchange of water. I will look into getting some bio-spira tomorrow. I have city water here in Texas, and do not know why they have started adding more crap into the water. I have tested my water straight out of the tap before, with results for ammonia being no where near what I am getting now.

susitna-flower

That is a very good reason to alert your city...They may not be aware of the problem...I doubt it is something they are adding.

mrsmuffin

Larry, out of curiosity what area are you in? I am in Texas also...

L a r r y

I am in Irving

Shawnie

Did you ever figure this situation out Larry? there shouldnt be ammonia in your drinking water

sirdarksol

Not good, but not unheard of either. Ammonia sometimes appears in tap water for whatever reason.
This is not something that you want to be exposing yourself or any of your pets to.
I agree with Susitna that the ammonia levels in your tank should be lower than the levels in your tap water, and you should pay very close attention to your cycle.
However, this is also something that you should be worrying about at the tap. I'm not sure how this works, legally, but I know that in certain circumstances, municipalities are required to provide home filtration for houses that have tainted water supplies.
One other question: What test kit are you using?