Ammonia, do I need to worry?

[mama2emma]

I started my tank three days ago with Bio Spira and 3 panda cories. I've seen no ammonia or nitrites since then...until this morning. Ammonia is showing up at around .25 ppm or below (color isn't quite as dark as .25 ppm on the color chart). No nitrites or nitrates. Do I need to worry about this level? I'll test again tonight and see if there's any change.

Thanks!

Amy

Edit: I just read on the Bio-Spira website that "It is normal to have a small (<2 ppm) amount of ammonia or nitrate during the first few days after set-up. These concentrations are not harmful and will quickly drop to zero with proper use of BIO-Spira." So I guess I'm okay, but I feel like a dunce, I have no idea what a toxic level of ammonia is. Can anyone give me an idea of when to worry?

 

[daveedka]

I do not like to expose my fish to ammonia above 0.5 ppm, Fish can survive higher levels, but ammonia burns the gills and causes permanent damage that will at some level or another harm the fish long term. I wouldn't worry about 0.25 ppm, but I would watch it closely, and plan to do water changes if needed to keep it very low. JMO
Dave

 

[Sponge Bob]

The toxic level of ammo depends on the fish. When I started my very first 10 gal, with fish in it, the ammo peak after 5 days at 3ppm then got down to .5 then peaked again at 5 ! Then it dropped again at 1 and stayed between 0.5 to 1 for 1 week. Then the Nitrites kicked in ! My readings at one point were off the scale ! ( above 5 )

I had 4 goldies in there and none died. They are now in a 55 gal tank and beautiful.

Like it was said, water changes are the way to go + the Bio-Spira. It will keep the ammo/Nitrites/Nitrates low. That's what I do.

Good luck !

SB