Neon tetras and low ammonia levels- tolerance

Hi there! I have re-designed my 30 gallon tank. Currently moderately planted using contrasoil, with some decorative foreground sand. The tank has kept its cycle, previous filter and media used, replaced all old substrate and decoration, added new plants.
Question:
1. I have ammonia in my tap water (chloramine used in city water). My tank regularly registered ammonia in the 0.25-0.5 range (nitrates are currently 10, nitrites of course are 0, ph 7.0 - which is lower than with my previous setup). Is 0.25-0.5 ammonia reading going to present an issue for neon tetras? I do condition with prime.

FYI…my plan for my new setup inlcude:
Neon tetras (15-20)
Honey Gourami (4-6)
Panda Cory (6)
Otos (3-4)
Shrimp - Amano vs cherry

My previous setup included tiger barbs and a rainbow cichlid. The pairing unfortunately didn’t work. The rainbow was the last gal standing, had her for about 4 years. She didn’t mind the water parameters at all and thrived (although she moved then ate all the plants).

Anyway, hoping for a peaceful setup and hoping for a nice sized neon tetra school. Some input and experience regarding their “ammonia tolerance” of 0.25-.5 is appreciated.

 

Hi

Not the same species, but cardinal tetra, for instance, can deal with up to 23.7 mg/L total ammonia at pH 7.6 and ..... I can't find the temperature, but I assume 25 C / 77F (Tolerance to temperature, pH, ammonia and nitrite in cardinal tetra, Paracheirodon axelrodi, an amazonian ornamental fish).

Not that you get 23.7 mg/L in your tank of course, unless you throw in a food container and a few Oscars.

1 tetra of 2 grams requires 2% feed a day, which equals to about 0.0009 grams of ammonia per day released in your tank. Which is 0.0008 ppm in a 30 gallon tank. Not much.

x 20 neons equals 0.016 ppm ammonia per day.

In case you continue to worry, which is fine of course, get some floating plants or Hydrocotyle leucocephala which you can guide with suction cups in the back of your tank. These plants love ammonia and it makes your tank look a little jungle-ish too .

Any source of your .25-.5 assumption?

 

Hi

Not the same species, but cardinal tetra, for instance, can deal with up to 23.7 mg/L total ammonia at pH 7.6 and .....can't find the temperature, but I assume 25 C / 77F (Tolerance to temperature, pH, ammonia and nitrite in cardinal tetra, Paracheirodon axelrodi, an amazonian ornamental fish).

Not that you get 23.7 mg/L in your tank of course, unless you throw in a food container and a few Oscars.

1 tetra of 2 grams requires 2% feed a day, which equals about 0.0009 grams of ammonia per day released in your tank. Which is 0.0008 ppm in a 30 gallon tank. Not much.

Any source of your .25-.5 assumption?

In case you continue to worry, which is fine of course, get some floating plants or Hydrocotyle leucocephala which you can guide with suction cups in the back of your tank. These plants love ammonia and it makes your tank look a little jungle-ish too .

Thank you! My guess is since my tap water tests high for ammonia that’s the source. I’ve also read on this forum that some have found the API kit to show 0.25 ammonia for bottled water. Great suggestion on the added plants! I appreciate your feedback.

 

And those plants are super easy, because they have their leaves in the air. Although Hydrocotyle leucocephala does both (growing above and below the water line).
So you don't need any plant experience.

The most important thing to worry about is maintaining crystal clear water. Neons hail from waters that lack bacteria. If you run into trouble with neons, it is most likely too many bacteria in the water column ...or bad genetics.

So although ammonia load is low, I would be very careful not to stock too many fish in a tank. If the tank feels boring, drop some (safe) wood branches in or have fun with some plants.

Perhaps not what you had in mind but I think this would be a conversation starter in your house (just one species of fish, cardinal tetras, in a 20 gallon tank):

 

The problem with chloramine city water treatment is that part of that disinfection method is to shock the system with high chlorine on a regular basis.

So this means that they will spike the chlorine to the maximum level like every week. So if you happen to draw some tap water then, the fish may be exposed to high chlorine levels.

The other problem is that the water company may adjust the pH of the water. They like to increase the pH in order to make the ammonia more effective. Ughh, this is bad for fish since ammonia is more toxic at high pH.

Many water companies are suggesting that folks pre-treat their water when chloramine treatment is used. If you can manage this, it is the best way. You can pre-treat the water, remove all chlorine, all ammonia, and oxygenate the water. This makes for natural rain water-like water changes that will keep your neons very happy and avoid accidents due to the water company changing things.

https://www.siouxfalls.org/public-works/water-division/documents/chloramines-and-fish

I do agree with Rudd that your fish will be fine at the levels you have measured. But when the water company changes the chemistry, all bets are off!!

 

US folks should have a quarantine tank just for water

 

Thank you all for the information!! So here’s a question….I have a rain barrel. Anyone used collected water in a rain barrel for their tanks? I wonder about bacteria growth in the barrel esp during the heat of the summer so never considered it before…BUT given the tap water issues. Anyone done this with succcess??

I could bite the bullet and invest in a RO system. Oh the things we do for our fish . Really loving the looks of my new tank, hardscape and plants….just want the fish to succeed too!
Thank you all!!!

 

There you go!

You can collect rain in the barrel, and also run a hose to the barrel from you tap when needed.

Use the barrel to treat water to make it fish ready.

To prepare the water, just run an aquarium filter hanging on the barrel. Use activated charcoal to remove the pollution if there is mercury, etc in your rain water, and aerate the water to increase oxygen. Also add the ammonia absorber when using your tap water to remove the residual ammonia.

Your fish will love this fresh oxygenated water.

Just keep it dark with a lid to avoid algae blooms.

I have a shallow well, so it is basically rain water. But I treat it in 50 gallon barrels for aeration since my well water is very low in oxygen. I don't need to filter it since the pollutants have been filtered by the ground. That is the problem with rain water, it has not been filtered, so you can add a filter if needed. You can skip the filter if you know there is no local source pumping pollution into your rain water.

 

There you go!

You can collect rain in the barrel, and also run a hose to the barrel from you tap when needed.

Use the barrel to treat water to make it fish ready.

To prepare the water, just run an aquarium filter hanging on the barrel. Use activated charcoal to remove the pollution if there is mercury, etc in your rain water, and aerate the water to increase oxygen. Also add the ammonia absorber when using your tap water to remove the residual ammonia.

Your fish will love this fresh oxygenated water.

Just keep it dark with a lid to avoid algae blooms.

I have a shallow well, so it is basically rain water. But I treat it in 50 gallon barrels for aeration since my well water is very low in oxygen. I don't need to filter it since the pollutants have been filtered by the ground. That is the problem with rain water, it has not been filtered, so you can add a filter if needed. You can skip the filter if you know there is no local source pumping pollution into your rain water.

Awesome! Thank you!

 

My tap also contains chloramine and tests at .5 -.7 ammonia. An established aquarium filter processes this ammonia quickly in my experience. Yours doesn't? I've never had a problem doing 40% water changes straight out of the tap.

 

The controsoil is gonna be leaching ammonia and lowering pH constantly, so that's the bigger concern here. If you are using active substrate its better to use RO water + remineralizer than to fight its effects with tap water