New RIO 300 tank

[Richard B]

Then the ammonia problem is caused by your tapwater & water changes will have no effect as you are putting back what you take out.

[slakey]

So nothing I can do then?

How do I know when I can add fishies?

[Richard B]

Your tank will still be cycling so the water will be slowly improving all the time. If you are doing water changes you'll need to remove the ammonia from the water you intend to use to replace the tankwater. Maybe filter the tapwater in a bucket with some ammonia remover before the change.

[slakey]

Right so its just choosing which ammonia remover to buy

Seachem Prime
Seachem AmGuard
Prodibio Stop Ammo

Also how long will Moss Balls last in a bowl of water? No filter or air pumps?

[racoll]

Reading from tapwater says: Ammonia: 0.25ppm

Not sure what the legal limit is, but I would say that there shouldn't be any detectable ammonia in tapwater!

Try to get a second opinion on the reading (e.g. at your LFS), and maybe contact your water supplier for some more information.

Are you using dechlorinator on your tapwater before you test it?

It is possible that your water is disinfected with chloramine (chlorine + ammonia) rather than just chlorine. When you add standard dechlorinator to chloramine, you end up with ammonia. This might be your problem, but it can be solved by using a dechlorinator that deals with chloramines.

[MatsP]

I'd also suspect that most ammonia tests do detect chloramine as ammonia - since essentially it is ammonia and chlorine added at the same time to the water.

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Mats

[slakey]

nope, that was straight from the tap nothing added, nothing taken away.
unless im reading it wrong, looks both green at one point then yellow the next :/

[MatsP]

Your water, if it has less than 0.50 ppm Ammonium or Nitrite at the tap, is, unfortunately, still acceptable drinking water:
http://www.dwi.gov.uk/regs/si3184/conso ... by2734.pdf (See page 38)

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Mats

[slakey]

I best buy some Seachem AmGuard then to get it down and keep it down

[MatsP]

I best buy some Seachem AmGuard then to get it down and keep it down

Yes, however if you have a good working bacteria culture in your tank, it should "go away" by itself.

Also make sure that you double-check, e.g. by taking a water sample to your LFS - it may simply be that your test-kit is showing ammonia for "no ammonia". [Another way to check if your test-kit works would be to check with some bottled water from your local supermarket/corner-shop - still variety is probably best - it should have no measurable amount of ammonia].

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Mats

[slakey]

Okay will do. Since being off here over last few days, I got a timer for the lights and today sold the Rio 125

[MatsP]

Okay will do. Since being off here over last few days, I got a timer for the lights and today sold the Rio 125

Good. Then maybe you should remove the link in your signature...

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Mats

[slakey]

Now done, and I have got £80 to spend on something :/

[slakey]

Right so far at aqua essentials my shopping basket consists of these:

1 EasyLife Easy Carbo 500ml - £9.99
1 Ferplast BluStart Bacteria Activator - £9.39
1 Tetra Fresh Delica Daphnia - £3.89
1 Sechem AmGuard 500ml - £15.99

Is there anything else...
Should I chuck the wood I have in their now, and buy some new stuff, or see if the fish and shrimp will clean it off?
Should I buy more plants, or wait until it's been 1-2weeks then get new plants?

[slakey]

anyone?

[MatsP]

I would clean the wood off manually with mild scrubbing - nothing too agressive - just make it look good, as the algae will come back either way if you do not solve the original problem: Too much nutrients, too much light and not enough CO2 for the plants. The algae will also die off if you make the conditions for the algae less good.

Leave getting plants to later on.

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Mats

[grokefish]

Have you solved the amonia in your tap water problem?
Is your water hard or soft?
If it is soft it is more likely to be mostly ammonium and your plants will strip it out almost immediately, especially floating plants and amazon swords. I have a type of amazon sword that I can't ID that strips water of nutrients (ammonium, nitrate iron etc.) like a nutrient sponge and grows at a hell of a rate, give it a prune, et viola, removing ammonium and nitrates from the system completely.
Also a funny thing about this type of amazon sword is that neither Uarus or silver dollars do more than nip at it.

Matt

[slakey]

Tomorrow, I'm doing a 25% water change, should I replace the white sponge?

Also I've bought some Seachem Prime and some Seachem AmGuard.

I'm guessing I'll add the Seachem AmGuard first, and leave it at that?

[racoll]

Also I've bought some Seachem Prime and some Seachem AmGuard. I'm guessing I'll add the Seachem AmGuard first, and leave it at that?

I would follow the instructions on the packaging, assuming that your tests are correct and you have noticeable ammonia in your tapwater.

Also make sure that you double-check, e.g. by taking a water sample to your LFS - it may simply be that your test-kit is showing ammonia for "no ammonia". [Another way to check if your test-kit works would be to check with some bottled water from your local supermarket/corner-shop - still variety is probably best - it should have no measurable amount of ammonia].

Have you done this yet?

Tomorrow, I'm doing a 25% water change, should I replace the white sponge?

I've never had a Jewel filter - what does the white sponge do?

[slakey]

I bought some still natural mineral water to test for ammonia on.

[slakey]

Here are the results, one from the tank, one from the bottled water that I bought:



I would say they're the same colour?

[Richard B]

It might be the lighting source from the room, but the one on the right look a lighter shade to me.

[slakey]

Think the lighter one is from the tank, the one on the left is the one from the bottled water which had longer before I looked at the result.

[racoll]

Here are the results, one from the tank, one from the bottled water that I bought:

You still need to test the tapwater right?! This is where the ammonia might be coming from.

[slakey]

Right tested all 3 just now, awaiting results.

If my tapwater does have ammonia, what can I do about water changes... RO Unit's are out of the question.

Left - Tap Water
Middle - Tank Water
Right - Bottled Water

(now I'm pretty sure I didn't get the tank and bottled water mixed up, but it looks like the bottled is the very light green colour which suggests: 0.25ppm?)

[racoll]

So yellow is clear and green is ammonia right?

If my tapwater does have ammonia, what can I do about water changes

This is why you bought the Seachem AmGuard

You just dose the new water as per the instructions.

In the meantime carry out a few more tests, preferably with different test kits to see if your problem actually exists.

[slakey]

Todays results.

Left - Tap
Right - Tank