How much ammonia is consider toxic?

I'm currently doing a fish in cycle with my tank, and I believe the ammonia level stayed at 0.5ppm, even after a water change-is that too toxic for emerald cory cats? I'm admittedly not the best at reading the API liquid test kit-I can't seem to tell the difference between 0.25 and 0.5ppm... any help would be appreciated!

 

Any ammonia is potentially toxic. Check your tap water to see if it contains ammonia. If it does, it's time to grab some Prime. If it doesn't, you should consider doing bigger and more frequent water changes until the cycle catches up.

 

Ammonia that is more than 0.25 ppm is considered toxic to fish. Of course, the higher the number, the more toxic and potentially fatal it is to the fish living in it. Are you putting conditioner into your tap water before you add the water? I use Prime and it has worked fine for me.

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia? Your tap water could be the source and you are adding the ammonia into your tank. Your tank is currently cycling, so there may not be enough BB to convert the ammonia into nitrite, then nitrates. If you haven't already I would read up on the Nitrogen Cycle just in case Best of luck!

 

Any ammonia is potentially toxic. Check your tap water to see if it contains ammonia. If it does, it's time to grab some Prime. If it doesn't, you should consider doing bigger and more frequent water changes until the cycle catches up.

ah okay-not able to get prime at the moment... I'll have to check my tap water-and do another water change in the morning. Thanks!

 

Ammonia that is more than 0 ppm is considered toxic to fish. Of course, the higher the number, the more toxic and potentially fatal it is to the fish living in it. Are you putting conditioner into your tap water before you add the water? I use Prime and it has worked fine for me.

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia? Your tap water could be the source and you are adding the ammonia into your tank. Your tank is currently cycling, so there may not be enough BB to convert the ammonia into nitrite, then nitrates. If you haven't already I would read up on the Nitrogen Cycle just in case Best of luck!

Huh my post went funky, not sure when I quoted my post. I meant to say that ammonia is safe at 0ppm (since there is none) and can get dangerous at 0.5ppm+. Ammonia burns and struggling to breathe are all common symptoms you can visibly see.

 

General rule of thumb that I've heard is look for a combined total of less than 1.0 with your ammonia and nitrite added together. For example, if you have 0.25 PPM ammonia and 0.75 PPM nitrite, you're "safe" but you certainly wouldn't want either of those numbers to increase.

When in doubt, do another water change.

 

I had white cloud mountain minnows breed in a cycling tank with over 1ppm of ammonia. The eggs even hatched, and the fry grew. I had so many I actually fed them to my other fish.

 

I had white cloud mountain minnows breed in a cycling tank with over 1ppm of ammonia. The eggs even hatched, and the fry grew. I had so many I actually fed them to my other fish.

Woah! I've heard white clouds are extremely hardy though.