# help with top off and water change water



## vanillaprice (Feb 7, 2015)

I am setting up an African cichlid tank. My water is hard and great for them except it is high in ammonia. How do I filter out just the ammonia without changing the rest of the water. Was told by the local pet store my water was perfect for cichlids except for the ammonia.


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## PhinFan1981 (Nov 15, 2014)

You are talking about your tap water?


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## The Cichlid Guy (Oct 18, 2014)

Seachem Prime will neutralize the ammonia long enough for your biofilter to process it. Use it any time you add water, just as you would any dechlorinator.

When you say high ammonia, exactly how bad is it?


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## joescaper1 (Feb 14, 2013)

What type of filter system are you employing? City water? Well water?


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## atreis (Jan 15, 2013)

Guessing it's city, since it has ammonia in it... Question: Is it ammonia or ammonium? (You can call your city water company to find out whether they use ammoniun. Both appear the same to the test kits aquarists use, and they're used for the same purpose by the water companies.) If it's ammonia, you can leave it sit in an open container for 2-3 days with a small pump (or air pump) for circulation. The ammonia will naturally gas off into the air. If it's ammonium it won't gas off and should be neutralized using something like Prime.


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## vanillaprice (Feb 7, 2015)

Yes it is the city tap water. I will try to leave some in my container for several days and then have it tested again. That should tell me if it gassed off. I will also look into the products listed. I know I just don't want to really filter the water due to it being great for the cichlids.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I've heard of chlorine and chloramine...but ammonia being added on purpose?


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## DrgRcr (Jun 23, 2009)

If your city water has chloramine, you will get a reading of ammonia. Chloramine is chlorine bonded with ammonia. The ammonium is what will still show up as ammonia in the test.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

So a good dechlorinator like Prime will handle it.


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## somebody (May 13, 2014)

I have the same problem and I pretty much just deal with it. After your tank properly cycles and is up and running (meaning 0 ppm ammonia) you'll be fine. 
If you have a 100gal tank and do a 20%(20gal) wc, the dilution of that water will bring it down 1 ppm amm to .20 ppm amm. Treat with prime as always and you'll be ok. Prime doesn't remove ammonia it only detoxifies it. Hope this helps


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## judyok (Aug 12, 2014)

My city tap water comes out at 1 ppm of ammonia since they started adding chloramine. I don't know if it's ammonia or ammonium I just treat with Prime. What I'm wondering is if the extra ammonia added during water changes will make the nitrates rise faster since that's an added source of ammonia on top of the fish waste. If that's the case you will have to do more water changes to bring down the nitrates, but your also adding ammonia again. Does that sound right or am I thinking to hard (my brain hurts)  Do all of us that have to deal with chloramines and ammonia need something else to aid in removing ammonia?


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## The Cichlid Guy (Oct 18, 2014)

The easiest way to find out is to test your water. Check your ammonia, nitrates, etc., before doing a water change. Then, maybe 24 hours after doing the change, check them again. This will confirm that your filter has processed the ammonia into nitrate, and show you how much of an increase it caused. At levels that low, I wouldn't expect it to be so significant that you will need to alter your water change schedule.

As long as you use Prime (or something with similar dechlorinating/detoxifying properties) for every water change, you'll be golden.


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## drewmaen (Apr 28, 2013)

Just get a few five gallon buckets and let the water sit for 48hrs it will be ok after that. Been doing it for years


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## B.Roberson (Nov 6, 2011)

> drewmaen said:
> 
> 
> > Just get a few five gallon buckets and let the water sit for 48hrs it will be ok after that. Been doing it for years


lol. 5 gallon buckets would work with one 30 gal tank,but who does that anymore? But not a 90,75, 30, 20, and a 10 hospital.. You would need 2- 55 gal drum with a drip/pour system to exchange water in multiple tanks.. what size tank??? or did i miss that part?


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## jw85 (Dec 24, 2013)

My tap water comes out as a 2 ppm ammonia reading because of chloromines. I do two water changes per week in my 125 (60 gallons per change).

I dose the tank fully with prime (2 cap fulls) and use 1 cap full in each of my 30 gallon tubs I use.

Been doing it for several years and never had an issue with ammonia or nitrates. That being said, I've always feared going tap to tank due to this issue, so that's why I use the big tubs first and Prime the water before going into the tank.


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