# Tap Water with ammonia!



## rickstsi (Apr 6, 2007)

The tap water in my erea is bad right now it has traces of ammonia about 1ppm. So i haven't done a water change in about 7 days. The problem now is that the tank water is starting to get ammonia .25ppm. Should i do a water change or not. also my PH is at 6.0 from 6.8. What should i do?


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

You can add water conditioner to your tap water to get rid of the ammonia. 
How long has your tank been running? How large a tank? What kind of filter do you have? You should always have 0ppm ammonia no matter how long you go without water changes. Either your tank isn't fully cycled or you don't have enough bio-filtration.


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## rickstsi (Apr 6, 2007)

Piranha Dan said:


> You can add water conditioner to your tap water to get rid of the ammonia.
> How long has your tank been running? How large a tank? What kind of filter do you have? You should always have 0ppm ammonia no matter how long you go without water changes. Either your tank isn't fully cycled or you don't have enough bio-filtration.


Really 0ppm with no water changes, then why do we do them? I thought water conditioner only removed clorine. It is a 125g with FX5 and 6 reds 5" to 7" and it has been running for about 5 months.


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## -NBKK- (Jun 22, 2007)

rickstsi said:


> The tap water in my erea is bad right now it has traces of ammonia about 1ppm. So i haven't done a water change in about 7 days. The problem now is that the tank water is starting to get ammonia .25ppm. Should i do a water change or not. also my PH is at 6.0 from 6.8. What should i do?


Welcome to my world. you can smell the chlorine when you turn on my taps. I just dose the tank with water conditioner and thats that.


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## Guest (Mar 14, 2008)

Welcome to New Jersey. We have the worst damn water.

I've never actually tested by tap water for ammonia. Perhaps the Chloramine (NH2Cl) is giving you a false positive for ammonia (NH3)?


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## Doktordet (Sep 22, 2006)

Thats a good point Bullsnake. IMO, when I test my water, I think i get false positives. NJ's tap is f*cked. Did you hear about news that water in Northern NJ is contaminated with very minute traces of antibiotics, sex hormones, and heart medicine?


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## Wide_Eyed_Wanderer (Aug 22, 2006)

Nothing like a glass full of sex hormones in the morning.


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

Sooooo....you guys are drinking wizzwater? Very Nice!


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## Dr. Giggles (Oct 18, 2003)

As Bullsnake said chloramines, which is basically a cocktail of chlorine and ammonia used by your water district to combat bacterial outbreaks. More so after major rain storms.


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## Doktordet (Sep 22, 2006)

speakyourmind said:


> Sooooo....you guys are drinking wizzwater? Very Nice!


i heard water in san franciso has viagra in it


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## Piranha Dan (Nov 11, 2007)

rickstsi said:


> Really 0ppm with no water changes, then why do we do them? I thought water conditioner only removed clorine. It is a 125g with FX5 and 6 reds 5" to 7" and it has been running for about 5 months.


You do water changes to remove Nitrates and Phosphates, which are the end result of the Nitrogen cycle.
The Nitrogen cycle goes like this:
1. Fish takes a dump. Said dump is made up of Ammonia and Phosphates. Ammonia is bad, we'll get to Phosphates in a minute.
2. One type of beneficial bacteria comes along, eats the ammonia, and takes a dump. This dump is made up of Nitrites. Nitrites are also bad.
3. Another type of benificial bacteria eats the Nitrites, and takes a dump. This dump is mad up of Nitrate.
Nitrates and Phosphates are pretty much harmless to your fish, but they're basically fertilizer, and if you don't remove them Algae will feed off them and grow out of control, making a mess of your tank.

Did you ever add benificial bacteria to your tank when you were cycling?
Check your PH. I learned recently from a mistake that if your PH drops too low (below 6.0 or so) you'll kill off your benificial bacteria, causing an ammonia spike.
Whatever the cause, there's an additive called "Freshwater TLC" that you can use to get rid of Ammonia and Nitrite. I used it when I had the problem above and it worked wonders.


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## barbianj (Aug 3, 2003)

> if your PH drops too low (below 6.0 or so) you'll kill off your benificial bacteria,


That's why pickles don't go bad. Bacteria can't live in the low Ph.


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