Ammonia ? Need Immediate HELP!
- Thread starter rockbellab
- Start date
HappyChem -
You have read my tests for my faucet water, right?
It was post#10 (not including kH, because I don't have it yet).
Just wanted to make sure you had read it and still feel like my best/safest bet is to use my tap water (I guess my biggest reason for trying the RO water was that my Ammonia out of the tap was 2.0ppm and that even after adding the Prime it still showed up on my water test). I was just trying to solve my problem. I didn't realize that the Ammonia would still show up on my water tests. When does it go away or will I always have it after I add water even though I am adding Prime. So confusing!
Let me know and thanks for all the helpful info.
P.S. If it makes anyone feel better my Oscars are very happy and active. They seem to be thriving. I'm the one that is worried and stressed over the tests. I just want to do everything I can for them.
You have read my tests for my faucet water, right?
It was post#10 (not including kH, because I don't have it yet).
Just wanted to make sure you had read it and still feel like my best/safest bet is to use my tap water (I guess my biggest reason for trying the RO water was that my Ammonia out of the tap was 2.0ppm and that even after adding the Prime it still showed up on my water test). I was just trying to solve my problem. I didn't realize that the Ammonia would still show up on my water tests. When does it go away or will I always have it after I add water even though I am adding Prime. So confusing!
Let me know and thanks for all the helpful info.
P.S. If it makes anyone feel better my Oscars are very happy and active. They seem to be thriving. I'm the one that is worried and stressed over the tests. I just want to do everything I can for them.
Rockbellab,rockbellab said:
Your tap water is NORMAL. You don't *have* a problem. You wll always have the ammonia show up unless the city stops adding chloramine and uses chlorine instead.
People either have chloramine or chlorine, both are equally deadly to fish. The people who have chlorine don't even see it in their tests because they are not testing for chlorine, but it IS there. You are only seeing it because you are testing for ammonia. The chlorine is there and just as deadly, but you can't see it. Prime and Amquel will deal with it, don't worry about it.
Sometimes we want make sure that we do the best we can for something and we end up making everything difficult. That's what's happened here. It's really very simple and people like Daveedka and Happy Chem have been doing this a LONG time. You *can* trust those two. You don't need RO water and until you feel comfortable with your tank and it's all cycled and stuff, I wouldn't use it. Like I said, and Dave too, it's adding a difficulty level to this that is not necessary.
Trust Dave and Happy Chem. They're not going to kill your Oscars.
Roan
Roan Art - Thanks. I think you are right about making things more difficult than they have to be. I'm trying to relax and enjoy the ride. Thanks to people like you I'm feeling a lot better about what I need to do.
I'm going to stop by my chain LFS tonight and pick up the kH test, a syringe and some extra test tubes. I'll post my readings later tonight. Thanks again for everything. I'm so glad you are willing to help me get this right.
Bridget
I'm going to stop by my chain LFS tonight and pick up the kH test, a syringe and some extra test tubes. I'll post my readings later tonight. Thanks again for everything. I'm so glad you are willing to help me get this right.
Bridget
Yes, I have read the whole thread, actually, post #6 was very helpful, it looks like your water commission just started using chloramines. Contacting them will help clear that up. Of course, that hypothesis was arrived at assuming that your water change regime stayed the same.
Roan summarized it well. No need to overcomplicate things. Add water, dechlorinate with Prime, and use salt as long as you have detectable NO2.
Actually Roan, I've not been keeping aquaria nearly as long as Dave has, but I do have a degree in chemistry and am currently studying chemical oceanography. These have helped me immensely in sorting through the masses of junk out there and have really sped the learning process. Fish keeping is just science, after all.
Roan summarized it well. No need to overcomplicate things. Add water, dechlorinate with Prime, and use salt as long as you have detectable NO2.
Actually Roan, I've not been keeping aquaria nearly as long as Dave has, but I do have a degree in chemistry and am currently studying chemical oceanography. These have helped me immensely in sorting through the masses of junk out there and have really sped the learning process. Fish keeping is just science, after all.
Happychem & Roan Art (and any other helpful people),
I tested the GH & KH of my tap water and aquarium water (here are the results).
TAP WATER:
KH - 35.8ppm
GH - 196.9ppm
AQUARIUM WATER:
KH - 35.8ppm
GH - 125.3ppm
I also tested the other water levels from my aquarium tonight (here they are):
High Range pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 2.0ppm
Nitrite - 0.25ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
What should I do now? Water change, add salt, add more Prime? Guide me in the right direction.
Thanks.
I tested the GH & KH of my tap water and aquarium water (here are the results).
TAP WATER:
KH - 35.8ppm
GH - 196.9ppm
AQUARIUM WATER:
KH - 35.8ppm
GH - 125.3ppm
I also tested the other water levels from my aquarium tonight (here they are):
High Range pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 2.0ppm
Nitrite - 0.25ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm
What should I do now? Water change, add salt, add more Prime? Guide me in the right direction.
Thanks.
I think I have another problem. I noticed a spot above my male Oscars eye last night after I did the water change. It was not there earlier in the day. Last night it looked like a piece of dried tan/yellowish toast (grainy like)about 1/2 the size of the end of an ink pen (maybe a little smaller). Tonight when I looked at it the dried stuff looks like it has sunken into a hole above his eye (I can still see the dried stuff but it is inside the hole sinking in). What could this be? What should I do? He's acting normally (begging for food, swimming and playing). Help please. I can't believe how hard keeping them healthy and alive is.
All in all things look good enough. The Kh number is lower than I like, but it is not detrimentally low. The nitrite is of course higher than desired, Salt will protect your fish as Happychem said earlier. I personally would go with about 1/4 teaspoon per gallon. it does not take a lot of Cl to block nitrite. Once you add 1/4 teaspoon per gallon (well mixed with water before adding) then each time you do a water change add 1/4 teaspoon per gallon of change water only. the salt doesn't go away, so there is no need to dose the whole tank for a partial water change. Water changes are still and always will be your best friend. I personally would not let nitrite go above 0.5 ppm. Most people would not let it go that high. Once ntrites quit reading on your test, then you can stop adding salt to the change water. eventually all of the salt will get dilluted out with regular maintenance.
Kh is one to watch. it's about where I expected based on your Ph numbers. Kh is consumed through natural processes in the tank. I would test it every day or 2 and keep an eye on it. if it does not drop significantly from one water change to the next then I would not worry about anything. if it is used up faster than your tap water can replace it then crushed coral or aragonite in the filter will keep things stable. I would not worry about it unless you see a drop though.
Now relax and enjoy your Oscars. the prescence of nitrates indicates some bio-activity so you cycle is at least partially estabilished, the ammonia that reads after water changes with Prime will be eaten up by your bio-filter. So once the cycle is going good you will only see the change water ammonia for a short period after water changes.
For future reference, there are test kits available that seperate ammonia and ammonium. I do not know brand names nor do I think there is a need to own one right away, but before your current test kit is used up, do some research and next time buy a brand that can distinguish btween ammonia and ammonium.
Roan, I am not sure how this works, but my understanding always was that the sodium thisulfate used in most dechlorinators actually removes/ changes chlorine into a safe compound. In other words it is gone or permanently changed. I can dechlorinate, and then test for chlorine immediatly and come up 0 every time. With chloramines, once the bond is broken and the Chlorine neutralized, then the ammonia remains and must be bound into ammonium. So in essence the way I understood it was that the chlorine was gone as soon as the dechlorinator hits it. I would be interested in anything you could drum up to help clarify this. You description does not match my understanding, but I have not researched the chemical reactions at all, so I'm working somewhat with assumed Knowledge.
Dave
Should I add the salt directly to the tank since I'm guessing you are saying I don't have to do a water change tonight?
Thanks for the help.
Thanks for the help.
First thing to do is relax and observe. Many fish get medicated to death by well meaning owners. It could literally be nothing more than a piece of debris stuck in a nostril, or it could be something more serious. the description does not match anything I am familiar with, but I am only versed in a few of the more common diseases. I recently thought my Oscar had developed HITH , and for three days I tried to get a good look at him(mine is not your typical friendly tank raised fish, he hides from humans). when I finally did get a good look, the spot I had seen was gone, and my fish is perfectly healthy.
If you want to reserch things, Google search HITH (hole in the head disease) and do some research on fungus and bacterial infections. Either way, patient sytematic research and observation will be better for your fish than worry and quick action. If you think it is HITH (common with Oscars) you will have time to treat it, but in all honesty, clean water (which you have via frequent changes) and good nutrition are your only defenses. But do not make something out of nothing. More often than not, it is nothing.
And Don't look for problems where there are none, fish are not that difficult, and I know very well how strong the urge to worry can be. just relax and use the knowledge you are gaining. then sit back and smile at your fish
Dave ain't that old (O.k. I've had tanks for all but about 17 of my 35 years) I just have the lucky combination of a good memory and a lot of bad experience. Knowledge is a very satidfying thing for me, understanding that My knowledge is really very limited is cause for me to keep learning as fast as I can.
We never fully understand anything until we realise we don't fully understand anything.
:Angel: Dave
