Water Reading Always .25 Ammonia.

So I've had this tank running almost two months. Its a 20 gallon long.
When I first got it I knew nothing of the cycling process and put in 7 guppies, three young cory cats and one young lace cat(trying to rehome).
Luckly I haven't lost any fish but I struggled for a very long time with high EVERYTHING that no amount of wc was touching.
Finally I dosed two bottles of TSS+ , left the tank alone for almost nine days and when I finally tested it was .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite and off the charts nitrate.
I've been doing 50 percent wc basically daily for almost two weeks to contest the nitrate and just now I finally got a reading of 20 nitrate, yay!! However since dosing the TSS+ my ammonia readings are a consistent .25. It doesn't go up or down before or after wc. My source does NOT have any ammonia though it does have 5 nitrate.
I use apI master test kit, I have national geographic sand substrate and every other wc I've been doing deep down "gravel" vacs.
Any idea why this is happening? And at .25 could it still cause damage?
Thanks for any help!
A little ps, several times I've accidently left my ammonia tube out without emptying it over night by accident, it always changes to yellow by the next day. Idk if that it normal or if it helps anything, and yes I'm testing correctly and check after 5 minutes.

 

So I've had this tank running almost two months. Its a 20 gallon long.
When I first got it I knew nothing of the cycling process and put in 7 guppies, three young cory cats and one young lace cat(trying to rehome).
Luckly I haven't lost any fish but I struggled for a very long time with high EVERYTHING that no amount of wc was touching.
Finally I dosed two bottles of TSS+ , left the tank alone for almost nine days and when I finally tested it was .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite and off the charts nitrate.
I've been doing 50 percent wc basically daily for almost two weeks to contest the nitrate and just now I finally got a reading of 20 nitrate, yay!! However since dosing the TSS+ my ammonia readings are a consistent .25. It doesn't go up or down before or after wc. My source does NOT have any ammonia though it does have 5 nitrate.
I use apI master test kit, I have national geographic sand substrate and every other wc I've been doing deep down "gravel" vacs.
Any idea why this is happening? And at .25 could it still cause damage?
Thanks for any help!
A little ps, several times I've accidently left my ammonia tube out without emptying it over night by accident, it always changes to yellow by the next day. Idk if that it normal or if it helps anything, and yes I'm testing correctly and check after 5 minutes.

right, so you already answered my first question ("is there ammonia in your tap water source"). you're correct in reading it at 5 minutes - after that, .25 can look like 0ppm in a couple hours.

.25 can harm some fish, but not if you dose the tank with the correct dose of Prime or another ammonia detoxifier.

thoughts:
1. dead fish stuck somewhere (filter, tubing, substrate, decoration, plants)
2. overfeeding
3. excess food stuck in filter (tubing, filter itself)

you can test the overfeeding theory by simply fasting your tank for 24-48 hours and testing ammonia each day. if it goes to zero, you have your answer.

you can test the other 2 theories by checking out your filter tubes & filter itself. if you find a blockage of old food or a dead critter, there's your answer.

I hope that's been helpful?

EDIT: the reason I suggest the excess food stuck in the filter theory is that happened to us! we were overfeeding the tank because we had so few fish but were planning on stocking and suddenly I noticed .25 ammonia and the filter stopped working properly. panic! we took off the tubing and rinsed and this GIANT solid mushy blockage of fish food finally got pushed out of the tubes into the sink. it was gross, but we learned to put a sponge or mesh bag over the intake after that

 

right, so you already answered my first question ("is there ammonia in your tap water source"). you're correct in reading it at 5 minutes - after that, .25 can look like 0ppm in a couple hours.

.25 can harm some fish, but not if you dose the tank with the correct dose of Prime or another ammonia detoxifier.

thoughts:
1. dead fish stuck somewhere (filter, tubing, substrate, decoration, plants)
2. overfeeding
3. excess food stuck in filter (tubing, filter itself)

you can test the overfeeding theory by simply fasting your tank for 24-48 hours and testing ammonia each day. if it goes to zero, you have your answer.

you can test the other 2 theories by checking out your filter tubes & filter itself. if you find a blockage of old food or a dead critter, there's your answer.

I hope that's been helpful?

EDIT: the reason I suggest the excess food stuck in the filter theory is that happened to us! we were overfeeding the tank because we had so few fish but were planning on stocking and suddenly I noticed .25 ammonia and the filter stopped working properly. panic! we took off the tubing and rinsed and this GIANT solid mushy blockage of fish food finally got pushed out of the tubes into the sink. it was gross, but we learned to put a sponge or mesh bag over the intake after that

My filter did stop working the other day! I panicked and instantly started taking it apart and cleaning every thing but I didn't notice any food coming out, but then again I wasn't looking for it. My filter started working again right after though. I have a lot of plants that I bought in rough shape(all they had was rough shape), they're doing A lot better now but had and still have A lot of bits coming off them that often clogs the filter and sticks to the intake, could that be something?
No dead fish, but maybe dead fry? My guppies had a huge batch not to long ago, got some out but some just disappeared?
All I have is filter floss and a bio wheel(a sponge filter as well), I cleaned both of those very recently and saw no dead babies so they'd be in the sand or under decor.
I feel like if all my fish survived off the charts ammonia and nitrite for weeks they'll be fine with .25 ammonia, but I do want to introduce some shrimp soon and it worries me.
Also, with this constent ammoina reading, will I be able to count my tank as cycled? Or no?

 

My filter did stop working the other day! I panicked and instantly started taking it apart and cleaning every thing but I didn't notice any food coming out, but then again I wasn't looking for it. My filter started working again right after though. I have a lot of plants that I bought in rough shape(all they had was rough shape), they're doing A lot better now but had and still have A lot of bits coming off them that often clogs the filter and sticks to the intake, could that be something?
No dead fish, but maybe dead fry? My guppies had a huge batch not to long ago, got some out but some just disappeared?
All I have is filter floss and a bio wheel(a sponge filter as well), I cleaned both of those very recently and saw no dead babies so they'd be in the sand or under decor.
I feel like if all my fish survived off the charts ammonia and nitrite for weeks they'll be fine with .25 ammonia, but I do want to introduce some shrimp soon and it worries me.
Also, with this constent ammoina reading, will I be able to count my tank as cycled? Or no?

so we were mystified why the filter just stopped working... we checked the canister - fine. we look at the tubing for the intake an outflow and couldn't see anything, but decided just in case that we would unhook the tubes and rinse...VOILA! gunk! heaps and heaps of gunk! we couldn't see it because it was hiding in the bends of the clear filter & just looked like we were seeing the tank through the tube. long story short: check the tubing.

most people on this forum say if there is any ammonia, then it's not cycled or you have a problem. personally, I reckon I see a bit of ammonia about once a month. I think that dead 0ppm is really yellow and hard to mistake. but I have a basis for comparison because we have 1 established tank that is always that beautiful yellow colour and we can hold the tubes next to each other for the other tanks if we're not sure.

I think dead fry could be the culprit if your filter tubes are clean. dead fish are certainly a source of ammonia. on the upside, it feeds your BB colony and grows it. on the downside, it's dead fish and can get stinky & if there are too many, then your ammonia can spike to levels that will harm your fish.

imo, use prime for now and see if a day of fasting does anything...or try to find the dead fry. if you're not seeing nitrites, and your nitrates are there, then you're basically cycled. remember that adding any ammonia source - excess food, live fish, dead fish etc - can cause small spikes. so just add fish slowly if you're going to add fish. like 3-4 at a time, and don't massively increase the amount of food you give them. that's the key ime.

 

I’m not sure how often you are deep cleaning the sand but it could be hurting your cycle?(said every other time but wasn’t sure if you went off weekly or the almost every day water changes)
I’m currently using the same sand and most of my debris stays on top so just sucking up what’s on the surface(weekly in my case) is usually fine with perhaps one deeper clean a month.

 

I agree with jenoli. Fast the fish /tank for a couple of days. It will not hurt your fish!! Then test.

Every weekend (80% of the time) I leave Friday evening and return Sunday night, my fish don’t eat for over 48 hours. I haven’t lost a fish in 4 months EXCEPT the 2 pregnant females I moved right before they gave birth, won’t do that again.

Good luck.

 

um how old are your test kits that's my first question my second is are u on mains water or rain water and my third question is how do u clean your filter do u clean them with tape water or water from the tank I never clean my filters useing tap water I use water from my tank cheers john

 

0.25 can still cause damage.

From yesterday and today I've lost 3 fancy guppies, and 3 platies due to 0.25 ammonia readings.
Basically a fish got caught to my pre filter and died there. No idea how long he was there because he was hiding within the prefilter
Yesterday I woke up and seem 2 platies dead, then 2 guppies, another platy, and my last guppy died afew hours ago. There were all the oldest fish in the tank, so I assume low immune system, and I think 0.25 ammonia had them stressed, then they got really sick. All my younger fish weren't affected at all.

My advice is full tank dose prime daily to de-toxify the ammonia.. so that's under half a cap of prime daily(1 cap full does 50 gallon).
If your still seeing trace of ammonia its either in your tap(which you've ruled out), its beeing leeched somehow(dead fish, way too much extra food) OR the cycle just isn't done(which I think).
End of cycle life is typically very little ammonia, no nitrites and obviously nitrates, so though it might be 2 months, you might just be near the end of the cycle.

Edit: Don't introduce shrimp until your reading show normal cycled tank parameters.. so no ammonia, no nitrites and some nitrates. You'll just waste your money as shrimp aren't all that hardy and like well established tank

 

It's actually really hard to get that super bright lemon yellow for 0 ppm on the ammonia test. Like it almost never happens. Most people have to learn the difference between what their 0 and .25 looks like.

Now, with that being said, last time I was cycling a tank I had this same problem. After a while, I just dumped in another bottle of TSS. With a few days, that .25 was gone.

 

What is your ph? Do you have a way to test for free ammonia vs all ammonia? Some lfs can do this for you. If it isn't free ammonia, you don't need to worry about it. I would ignore it if you still have it another month and nothing changes. Took my tank almost 6 months and a medication that killed off parts of my cycle for me to get that 0 ppm color.

 

What is your ph? Do you have a way to test for free ammonia vs all ammonia? Some lfs can do this for you. If it isn't free ammonia, you don't need to worry about it. I would ignore it if you still have it another month and nothing changes. Took my tank almost 6 months and a medication that killed off parts of my cycle for me to get that 0 ppm color.

There you are! I couldn't find my old post and with my nitrate finally lowering and my ammonia not changing, plus wanting to introduce shrimp at some point I've been getting more and more worried about my ammonia.
It hasn't been spot on .25 color in awhile, but its Definitly not all yellow enough to be 0. Ill see if my lfs will check for that and ill test my PH when I get home from work.

um how old are your test kits that's my first question my second is are u on mains water or rain water and my third question is how do u clean your filter do u clean them with tape water or water from the tank I never clean my filters useing tap water I use water from my tank cheers john

I bought my test kit less than two months ago. And I ALWAYS clean anything from the tank in old tap water during wc.

 

Sorry, didnt even look at the poster lol. If memory serves you had a clear 0ppm from the tap correct?

 

u should use apI ammonia lock to help with your ammonia reading I had to do that but it was to late for my fish that's your best bet and cool your test kits should still be in date

 

Sorry, didnt even look at the poster lol. If memory serves you had a clear 0ppm from the tap correct?

Lol! Correct. The only thing coming from my tap is 5 nitrate.
The only thing I haven't cleaned since dosing the TSS is my sponge filter, which I'm a little traumatized from the last time I tried to clean it, it leeched awful dirty waste into my tank when I put it back in, so I've been putting off doing it again but maybe I should?.
Guppies had more babies last night, ugghh, I'm currently trying to find homes for my adult females because this isn't helping my water issues.

 

I constantly get in between 0.1 and 0.25 ratings.

But there is no possible way that I have ammonia in my tank.

Sometimes test kits will give false readings. Just something I have to live with.

 

Lol! Correct. The only thing coming from my tap is 5 nitrate.
The only thing I haven't cleaned since dosing the TSS is my sponge filter, which I'm a little traumatized from the last time I tried to clean it, it leeched awful dirty waste into my tank when I put it back in, so I've been putting off doing it again but maybe I should?.
Guppies had more babies last night, ugghh, I'm currently trying to find homes for my adult females because this isn't helping my water issues.

Keep on rolling but I suspect it's a false positive.

 

Prime also causes false readings. There are tons of posts about it. Daily WC with prime and you'll never get a clean reading.
I would do a half dose, wait 48 hrs and check again.

 

I constantly get in between 0.1 and 0.25 ratings.

But there is no possible way that I have ammonia in my tank.

Sometimes test kits will give false readings. Just something I have to live with.

I totally believe him. he's a perfectionist with his tanks.

I tend to think things like whether or not you have exactly 5ml in the test tube or the drops being exactly the same amount or shaking it for 5 full seconds all impact on ammonia readings.

having said that, we have one tank that has been stable with that bright yellow 0ppm colour for months now. so it's possible. lolz

 

I totally believe him. he's a perfectionist with his tanks.

I tend to think things like whether or not you have exactly 5ml in the test tube or the drops being exactly the same amount or shaking it for 5 full seconds all impact on ammonia readings.

having said that, we have one tank that has been stable with that bright yellow 0ppm colour for months now. so it's possible. lolz

Agreed!

I’ve quit testing for ammonia in all of my tanks because of bright yellow repeatedly. Just test for nitrates.

But might test all6 tomorrow just for kicks. Gotta use it before it expires.

 

I noticed you said you have plants that have bits and pieces falling off. Is it possible you have an ammonia reading from decaying plant matter that isn't being removed?

 

I noticed you said you have plants that have bits and pieces falling off. Is it possible you have an ammonia reading from decaying plant matter that isn't being removed?

There's not really a reason at this point that the bb couldn't handle the decay of plant matter. I really think it's a bound nitrogen issue. It does happen sometimes. ApI won't test the difference and it could be a bound ammonia that the bb can't convert. I'd try not using prime and let the tank sit for 2 to 3 days and then retest.

 

Agreed!

I’ve quit testing for ammonia in all of my tanks because of bright yellow repeatedly. Just test for nitrates.

But might test all6 tomorrow just for kicks. Gotta use it before it expires.

I rarely test anything on my tanks; I do the same thing, the same way, every time, so I only bust out the Red Sea test kits when something looks off.

 

All five of my aquaria show 0.25 ppm for total ammonia.

They always have, for 24 years.

My test kit will show zero ammonia for my water butt (rainwater).

It is not likely to have a true zero ammonia in an aquarium because live fish produce it 24/7 and the test will pick it up while it is on the way to the filter.

0.25 ppm total ammonia at my normal pH and temperature gives 0.0002 ppm of free ammonia.

The level that LFS have to achieve to keep their licence in my country is 0.002 free ammonia.

So my free ammonia is a tenth of that limit.

I think you don't need to worry about 0.25 ppm total ammonia.

 

Hai! I've been reading everyone's replies just haven't had time to reply to everyone but I SOO appreciate the help.
Today makes day two of no wc which means no prime so ill test tonight and see what I get.
Could it be a bio load issue or would the bb be taking care of that at this point?
I know my tank is overstocked at 7 guppies, three cory cats, one lace cat and a mystery snail so maybe the bb has never learned how to cope yet?
Idk what I'm actually talking about but maybe??

 

In my experience the API test is very reliable.

If your tap is zero ammonia that means that you put in all the ammonia through the food and anything else you put in the aquarium.

Its worth knowing that just to maintain its existing body-weight a Neon Tetra only needs half a flake per day and a Goldfish needs only four and a half flakes per day.

Both food the fish eat and uneaten food goes to produce ammonia.

But if I read you right you have 0.25 ppm Total Ammonia and 20 ppm nitrate. I think that is perfect. What is there to worry about?

 

If your tap is zero ammonia that means that you put in all the ammonia through the food you put in the aquarium.

Its worth knowing that just to maintain its existing body-weight a Neon Tetra only needs half a flake per day and a Goldfish needs only four and a half flakes per day.

Both food the fish eat and uneaten food goes to produce ammonia too.

But if I read you right you have 0.25 ppm Total Ammonia and 20 ppm nitrate. I think that is perfect. What is there to worry about?

The only way ammonia is coming in through too much food is when I feed my cory cats. I have to wait until way after lights out, throw in a few half of pellets and walk away, without that I'm not sure they eat because my guppies are selfish monsters, lol!

I just tested my ammonia again and its been 2 days since wc or prime and its still .25, double checked my tap and its still 0.
I tried taking pics but they look exactly the same, my camera is .

And I'm worried because I've been told any amount of ammonia is bad, and that to have a cycled tank it needs to be 0 everything except nitrate and low on that.

 

Free ammonia is bad.

Your cories would get food easier if you fed them a sinking bottom feeder food. I used hikarI carnivore and they went nuts for it. HikarI shrimp worked as well. Fluval bug bites for bottom feeders in the granules can worked easily also. Flakes are not a great option for them. They deserve better than flake food and will readily accept any meat food that makes it to the bottom. Dissolve a quarter cube of hikarI bio pure bloodworms in a small glass of tank water and dump it in. Cories swam to the top for those for me.

 

Free ammonia is bad.

Your cories would get food easier if you fed them a sinking bottom feeder food. I used hikarI carnivore and they went nuts for it. HikarI shrimp worked as well. Fluval bug bites for bottom feeders in the granules can worked easily also. Flakes are not a great option for them. They deserve better than flake food and will readily accept any meat food that makes it to the bottom. Dissolve a quarter cube of hikarI bio pure bloodworms in a small glass of tank water and dump it in. Cories swam to the top for those for me.

Ill try the worms but they don't eat flake food. I feed them sinking food but the guppies go for that too and end up carrying it away.
Sometimes with wafers I have to take a long chop stick and physically hold it down to the bottom so my catfish can get some before the guppies start swarming.
I'm trying to rehome my female guppies so ill only have 3 males and it'll be easier to feed my cats.

 

Ill try the worms but they don't eat flake food. I feed them sinking food but the guppies go for that too and end up carrying it away.
Sometimes with wafers I have to take a long chop stick and physically hold it down to the bottom so my catfish can get some before the guppies start swarming.
I'm trying to rehome my female guppies so ill only have 3 males and it'll be easier to feed my cats.

The sinking carnivore wafers take a bit to soften and even then I doubt your guppies will get a chance to eat more than a quarter before dropping it to the floor.

The bloodworms will go everywhere so everyone gets to eat.

 

You are being worried unnecessarily.

The advice that you should have zero ammonia, zero nitrite and low nitrate is false advice and similar to other advice such as the 1 inch per gallon rule and the advice that fish will grow to match the size of their aquarium. Untrue and outdated.

It is not possible for ammonia to be zero if live fish are present because fish produce ammonia 24/7!

Google "ammonia 0.25" and you will find many many people in the same boat.

You are doing a good job. Don't worry any more. Enjoy your aquarium.

 

You are being worried unnecessarily.

The advice that you should have zero ammonia, zero nitrite and low nitrate is false advice and similar to other advice such as the 1 inch per gallon rule and the advice that fish will grow to match the size of their aquarium. Untrue and outdated.

It is not possible for ammonia to be zero if live fish are present because fish produce ammonia 24/7!

Google "ammonia 0.25" and you will find many many people in the same boat.

You are doing a good job. Don't worry any more. Enjoy your aquarium.

I politely disagree. .25 ammonia at higher ph is down right lethal. However, (where I highly agree with your conclusion but not your reasoning behind it,) the apI test will show nitrogen compounds that are nothing to worry about. A fully cycled tank that still shows hanging trace amounts of ammonia is generally not free ammonia, nor harmful in the least.

 

I politely disagree. .25 ammonia at higher ph is down right lethal. However, (where I highly agree with your conclusion but not your reasoning behind it,) the apI test will show nitrogen compounds that are nothing to worry about. A fully cycled tank that still shows hanging trace amounts of ammonia is generally not free ammonia, nor harmful in the least.

Last I checked with my PH it was dark dark blue on the normal ph test and I honestly couldn't find the color it matched with on the high PH test. Maybe 7.4-8.0? I'll check again when I get home.
I didn't know the correlation between high PH and .25 ammonia making it lethal or I would of taken my PH test more seriously (still learning new things everyday! Lol).
If it is between 7.4 and 8.0 will that be a lethal number with my .25 ammonia(yes ammonia still showing .25)? Or are you referring to PH numbers as high as 8.4 or 8.8?

 

I'd have to consult with Dr. Google to know for sure. Regardless, I'm pretty sure you are getting a false positive with the apI test.

 

I'd have to consult with Dr. Google to know for sure. Regardless, I'm pretty sure you are getting a false positive with the apI test.

Why is it giving me false positive on my tank and not my tap though?
Oh, I'm getting a new tank btw, noticed what could be a leak and I'm not taking any chances given this tank is over 10 years old.
It'll be the same size tank but different substrate and I'm only transferring filters, plants and my lace cats favorite tiny hide (going to get this beautiful huge fake drift wood piece, new) so hopefully any issues my tank could still be having from the previous reptilian residents will be gone.

 

A false positive could be a bound ammonia from treating your water, it could be weird things from your reptile tank as well.

No offense, but I'm glad it seems to be a small leak. I HATE your current tank lol.

 

A false positive could be a bound ammonia from treating your water, it could be weird things from your reptile tank as well.

No offense, but I'm glad it seems to be a small leak. I HATE your current tank lol.

LOL!! Listen, no offense taken, I'm GLAD to be getting rid of it.
Its going to be a pain transferring every thing, and I'm so scared my cycle will crash and ill have to start all over but at least ill no longer have to deal with crazy things that no beginner should ever have to go through, EVER!
Ill be getting it this Tuesday, hopefully my ammonia will start showing 0 afterwards, false positive or no I still don't like it. I wanna see yellow!! Haha!

 

As I clearly stated in post 23 my advice was for normal pH and temperature.

I don't believe high pH was mentioned before this so it would not be reasonable to disagree with me on this basis.

But anyway 0.25 Total Ammonia is not normally toxic even at pH 8.0 (according to the information table previously given out by CindL on this forum).

The table gives the level at which Total Ammonia starts to become toxic for the current pH and temperature.

 

As I clearly stated in post 23 my advice was for normal pH and temperature.

I don't believe high pH was mentioned before this so it would not be reasonable to disagree with me on this basis.

But anyway 0.25 Total Ammonia is not normally toxic even at pH 8.0 (according to the information table previously given out by CindL on this forum).

The table gives the level at which Total Ammonia starts to become toxic for the current pH and temperature.


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It's not uncommon for tanks to be above 8.0. The main disagreement though is that it likely isn't free ammonia.

 

Where are you getting your info? I test my water with master test kit and I am at 0 ammonia every time I test. Who ever said the fish only grow to the size of the tank should not give advice. And the 1 inch per gallon is 1 inch of adult fish and is only a guideline. There are other factors. So before claiming everything is false why not get real advice?

 

Where are you getting your info? I test my water with master test kit and I am at 0 ammonia every time I test. Who ever said the fish only grow to the size of the tank should not give advice. And the 1 inch per gallon is 1 inch of adult fish and is only a guideline. There are other factors. So before claiming everything is false why not get real advice?

Respectfully, who are you talking to?

Btw guys as of yesterday, with almost 4 days of no wc my ammonia raised to .50. I'm NOT cycled and it seems the .25 was not a false positive.
Jesus its been TWO MONTHS. I really want this to be a direct result of it being a previous reptile tank and that when I switch tanks today I will stop having these problems.
When I pick up the tank I'm thinking of picking up another bottle or two of TSS+ and dosing the tank tomorrow just in case. Sound like a good plan?