Stubborn Ammonia

Ok, so I think my tank is or at least should be well established by now. Did and do all the right things but somehow the ammonia keeps persisting at 0.25 ppm no matter what. That's the results API test gives every single time.
Nitrites 0
Nitrates below 5.0 ppm
Did regular water changes, cleaned gravel, treated with Prime and Stability. Nothing. It won't go down to 0. It doesn't rise above 0.25 ppm but won't go down either. WHY ???
Tank 10 gl
Load: 1 betta, 6 small rasboras, 2 snails, well planted.
Note: tested straight tap water too. No ammonia there, so I'm not adding any with the water changes.
Please help. Can it be I get false readings ?

 

You can get false positives. If the tube isn't clean or if you add just a taste too much reagent. It does happen. Also, live plants although they do suck up ammonium and nitrate they can purge ammonia back to the tank in small doses. Your BB should be able to cope. My advice is just keep an eye on it and test again.

 

A couple of follow up questions, what type of rasboras and what type of snails? Is that a 10 gallon long?

 

A couple of follow up questions, what type of rasboras and what type of snails? Is that a 10 gallon long?

Harlequin rasboras, mystery snail and purple snail.
10 gl rectangular

 

That is heavyish stocking, but it is manageable. If the fish don't look distressed, Navychief20's advice/

 

That is heavyish stocking, but it is manageable. If the fish don't look distressed, Navychief20's advice/

I went by the recommendation of the store I got them from. The guy that advised me runs 18 tanks at his home. I thought he knew how to advice.
Anyway the fish are doing great surprisingly, but I want this ammonia to go down already. I can't keep doing water changes every day indefinitely.

You can get false positives. If the tube isn't clean or if you add just a taste too much reagent. It does happen. Also, live plants although they do suck up ammonium and nitrate they can purge ammonia back to the tank in small doses. Your BB should be able to cope. My advice is just keep an eye on it and test again.

You think it's too planted ?

 

Yeah, the stocking is manageable Mystery snails produce so much waste it's hard to believe. It may just take a while for the BB to catch up. How long have you been running the tank?

 

You think it's too planted ?

No its not too planted. You have a good flora set going I was merely making you aware that plants do bump ammonia from time to time.

Be careful of pet store people that say they have all these tanks at home. My petco and petsmart people I actually have seen their tanks and they know what they are talking about. However when I went to Rhode Island to get my Pacu's (illegal in CT) those pet store people were not well educated in aquaria. They knew enough to be dangerous to mom's and dad's buying fish for little Jonnie and little Susie.

 

Yeah, the stocking is manageable Mystery snails produce so much waste it's hard to believe. It may just take a while for the BB to catch up. How long have you been running the tank?

It's been well over a month now.

 

Yeah, I don't trust the advice from most stores. Always best to do your own research, this forum is a great place to get advice.

It's been well over a month now.

Did you add everything at once? Was your tank cycled before adding fish/snails?

When I added a mystery snail to my established 15 gallon it through my cycle off for 2 weeks. I wasn't prepared for how heavy his bioload was going to be. Prime was my friend. All fine now though, the BB caught up.

 

Yeah, I don't trust the advice from most stores. Always best to do your own research, this forum is a great place to get advice.

That's why I joined. Initially my tank was set up as a glow in the dark aquarium with all the decor and some nice neon tetras. They all died, following incompetent advice from pet store employees. Waste of money on the fish and the neon decor.

 

That's why I joined. Initially my tank was set up as a glow in the dark aquarium with all the decor and some nice neon tetras. They all died, following incompetent advice from pet store employees. Waste of money on the fish and the neon decor.

We've all been there. You would be shocked what I put in my first 10g. One of the fish was a common pleco. I was told it would be fine in a 10g.

 

Did you add everything at once? Was your tank cycled before adding fish/snails?

When I added a mystery snail to my established 15 gallon it through my cycle off for 2 weeks. I wasn't prepared for how heavy his bioload was going to be. Prime was my friend. All fine now though, the BB caught up.

The mistery dude was there first. I suspect my tank wasn't even cycled when I added him. The fish came 2 weeks later and the other snail too. Should I remove the one snail ?

We've all been there. You would be shocked what I put in my first 10g. One of the fish was a common pleco. I was told it would be fine in a 10g.

I got this for my kid. My budget was 150 $ CAD (I'm in Canada where everything costs double than the US). The whole soap opera ended costing me over 400 $ if you include all the chem bottles, plants, new fish and decor for the restructured tank. Boy did I wake up to a nasty surprise about how expensive actually fish keeping is.

 

Your BB should eventually catch up. It can just take a while, I'd leave the snail for a few more weeks. It you are still having problems you could re-home one.

Equipment is really expensive here in the UK as well. I am envious of the US prices.

 

Your BB should eventually catch up. It can just take a while, I'd leave the snail for a few more weeks. It you are still having problems you could re-home one.

Equipment is really expensive here in the UK as well. I am envious of the US prices.

My son initially wanted a cat. I should have bought the cat. Way cheaper. LOL
Had cats before . A breeze to take care of compared to fish.

 

I don't know about that. My cat's a scrapper (he was once a feral cat). He cost me about £150 last month to treat cuts and abscesses.He's also a picky eater and will only eat the most expensive cat food. All pets are expensive.

 

If it makes you feel any better as per apI the accuracy of their ammonia test is +/- .25. That's taking the kit and user error into account.

 

c that's what most ppl think, including myself... oh its just fish, how expencive could it possibly be...? $1000+ and 4 months in...... WRONG ALL THE WAY AROUND!! haha but I'm so into it that I will spend every penny my husband will allow on my tanks lol. he is great with what's his is mine and vice versa, but when I got my 1st ( yes there are many more then 1 now lol) tank, I spent $500 the first day. on a 20 gallon and all the fixins lol. so he doesn't hand over the credit card so easily any more lol.

THE FISH HOBY IS AMAZING AND SUCH A LEARNING EXPIRIANCE.. don't know y I'm yelling haha, but its a very expencive hobby for sure

If it makes you feel any better as per apI the accuracy of their ammonia test is +/- .25. That's taking the kit and user error into account.

that's a very good thing to know, I always chalj my apI .25ppm as its still cycling. all my other perams are spot on, just can't get rid of the .25 ammonia on any of my tanks.. and I clean ut my tubes and rinse in tank water and dry befr I put them back. and am 100% sure I use them right! very good to know.

 

If it makes you feel any better as per apI the accuracy of their ammonia test is +/- .25. That's taking the kit and user error into account.

That kinda of puts my mind at ease a little. I also relocated the mistery snail with his bioload. LOL He was so active all day, eating his off. I guess he pooped a lot too.