Testing the water - How fast does Ammonia build?

rainbowcharmer

rainbowcharmer

AC Members
Jul 30, 2007
1,683
1
0
East Coast, USA
I decided to test my LFS's water when I brought home my new Red-Eye tetras tonight for the community tank. The tank was filthy that they came out of.

Nitrates are over 100ppm (well over 80, but not quite 160, and since those are the two highest on the API test, I'm estimating 100ppm)

Ammonia tested between .5ppm and 1ppm.

Nitrites tested 0.

So what I"m wondering is - did the ammonia build on the drive home from the LFS? The fish were in the bag less than 30 min.

Or was the ammonia in their tank water?

I know the nitrates were in their tank water. My nitrates are between 5 and 10 ppm.

I'm drip acclimating, and will test the water until I get to ammonia 0, nitrates somewhere near mine before netting them into my tank so there isn't a shock factor.

It just really bugs me that this is the only half-decent LFS around (only one I can special order through), and their tanks are just not well cared for. In all reality, Petsmart's tanks are cleaner, but I can't get the fish I want there.

I like the people at this LFS and all, but I worry about how the fish will do when exposed to those conditions. These fish arrived yesterday from their shipper, so they weren't there long, but still... how much damage can those types of nitrates do in that amount of time?
 
That didn't happen in the bag. That's the tank water. Ammonia and Nitrates.

Is it a mom and pop place? Do you think they know? I'd hate to think they allow it on purpose, maybe they do, and maybe the kid they have working there for minimum wage might be skimping on/rushing through the water changes. It might be worth a mention to them (the manager/owner) next time you go in. If you're in there enough you should be able to tell if its a constant neglect thing, or just a fluke.

Either way, one day in 1ppm ammonia shouldn't cause any lasting damage to those fish that won't be fixed with some good clean water. Same with the nitrates.
 
Without knowing how many fish and what type, an accurate answer is not possible. Yes, the ammonia could have formed if there were too many fish for too little water but Nitrites and Nitrates take longer to form and build and likely are from the LFS.
 
The fish were red-eye tetras - 15 of them (very young, still about 1/2" long).

It is a little mom/pop place. The tanks appear cleaner at PetSmart - I know that does not necessarily mean water quality is better, but the appearance of cleanliness is better at petsmart.

And no real reason to QT these guys since they are all coming from the same LFS and going into the same tank within a short time of each other. No other fish in the tank - it's all being stocked from this LFS because I am special ordering the fish that I want. Most of the time I get there before the fish are even put into a tank, but we had some crappy weather which prevented me from getting there when they were delivered yesterday, so I waited until today to pick them up. They all appear to be OK, but I'll definitely keep an eye on them to be sure.

NitrItes were 0 when I tested the water - Ammonia was about 1ppm and Nitrates were crazy high. I know the nitrates happened in their water, but was not positive about the ammonia, so that is why I asked about that. I know these guys have been around a while, so I would assume that their filtration systems are cycled, so that is why I wasn't sure about the ammonia happening there or in the bag. I didn't think the fish were in the bag long enough to build up that much ammonia, but I'm not sure exactly how fast that can happen, so I was hoping someone here might be more familiar with that portion of it.

And the tanks normally look a bit dingy and dirty, but again, they are the only ones who can order me fish at a decent price and usually what I get from them is healthy. The one exception is the molly that I got that has that weird spot going on that I posted about earlier this week. I looked at the molly tank, and all of their mollies are affected with whatever it is now. None of my other mollies have shown any symptoms, and they all came from the same tank. So I'm not sure what that means.
 
Something else wrong with your LFS is that they shouldn't sell stock arrived the day before... or maybe was that also a special order from you? Anyway I think they should keep the fish a few days before selling them.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom