# Ammonia



## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

Help! I have a 55 gallon aquarium with juvenile cichlids. I have the api test kit, and I'm showing 4.0 ppm on my ammonia tests, despite frequent 30% water changes. however, none of my African cichlids seem to act as though its affecting them(and I also am having cloudy water). Despite me doing frequent water changes, what would be some other ways to reduce ammonia levels? No matter what i do, the level is staying at 4.0 ppm. Water temp is 78 degrees, nitrate, nitrite is all good, PH 8.2... Despite the ammonia reading, everything else seems to be perfect..


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

How long has this tank been set up? What are your nitrate readings?


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

Nitrate is around 20ppm. Tank has been set up for about 6 months.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

If you're having ammonia problems at this point, you're either over feeding or under filtered.


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## noddy (Nov 20, 2006)

How does your tap water test?


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

I feed them once daily, and they eat it within 2 to 3 minutes woth nothing left. My tap water shows up no nitrates, no nitrite, no chlorine (after conditioning) high ph


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

What kind of filter are you using?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

What does your tap water test for ammonia before treating with a conditioner?

Which brand of conditioner are you using?

If you have zero nitrate, you tank is NOT cycled and not ready for fish yet OR you are not testing correctly for nitrate. Be sure to shake the #2 reagent bottle before dispensing the drops in the test tube.

You need to perform 50% water changes as often as possible to lower the ammonia level as much as possible. Don't forget to add your dechlorinator or conditioner to the new water.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Deeda said:


> What does your tap water test for ammonia before treating with a conditioner?
> 
> Which brand of conditioner are you using?
> 
> ...


The OP stated that the aquarium itself is testing at 20ppm of nitrate and that the tap has been testing zero for everything. I'm thinking it's probably an overstocked and under filtered issue at this point


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

Yep, you are correct about the tank nitrate at 20 PPM that I missed but the OP never mentioned ammonia level in tap water, just in case the water company uses chloramine as a disinfectant.

No mention of how many fish and how large juveniles are so it is possible there is a dead fish somewhere.

What brand and model filter are you using?


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Deeda said:


> Yep, you are correct about the tank nitrate at 20 PPM that I missed but the OP never mentioned ammonia level in tap water, just in case the water company uses chloramine as a disinfectant.
> 
> No mention of how many fish and how large juveniles are so it is possible there is a dead fish somewhere.
> 
> What brand and model filter are you using?


I agree 100% there's a possibility of a dead fish. I've had a few small female lithobates go missing lately myself, I hardly find anything but a few vertebrae here and there though lol. And yes we do need to know if the tap is showing any ammonia.


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

I did a water change yesterday, no dead fish. I have 15 cichlids in my 55 gal and they range from 2 to 3 inches currently. Along with 2 plecos and 2 courts. My concern is only because i use tap water for my 29 gallon aquarium that holds tropical community fish, and everything is perfect, including water clarity. I was considering under filtered and looking into canister filters, but i wanted some opinions before I went and got one. The filter cane with the kit, it's a top fin with 2 large filters (don't remember the actual name because i no longer have that info from 6 months ago.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

What type of plecos do you have? I'm really leaning towards inadequate bio filtration with all the current information but a couple more questions to narrow it down further, are you using a hang on back type filter and are you cleaning the filter? If so what method are you using?


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

Yeah it's a hang on the back. 2 bristle nose Plecos. And i "clean" my filter with tank water i put in a bucket during my water change. I know it's a big no no to use tap water to clean the filter.. i was honestly leaning towards the filter system being too small but i just wasnt sure because everything else is great when I test my water.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Even if your filter was too small...when you remove 1/2 the water you should also remove 1/2 the ammonia. At least for that instant after you refill the tank.

Some kind of hidden, rotting debris sounds like a possibility. What kind of substrate do you have? How do you clean it? Gravel can hide a lot of organic material.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

Well it seems you're doing everything correctly as far as I can tell, so it would have to be an undersized filter and/or a build up of waste. If you do have gravel substrate, I recommend getting rid of it and going with sand.


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

Lol yeah that's the weird thing, during my last water change (I do them weekly at about 30%) I even took some of the gravel substrate out during the siphoning off the substrate. I checked my decorations too to make sure there wasn't anything dead hidden in them. I do regular maintenance on my tank and that's why I was so confused as to why i still have ammonia in my tank... so do we just chalk it up as to needing a more powerful filtration system?


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I don't. When you remove half the water, you remove half the ammonia. If that does not happen, then debris is hiding somewhere.

Next step for me would be to remove all the gravel. I'd do daily PWC for a week or so in increasing increments (like 30 then 40 then 50 then 60 then 70 then 80 then 90 so that when you replace 100% of the water it will not shock the fish.


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

If i did PWC's that often with those kind of increments, wouldn't I be doing a disservice to my aquarium? I'm just curious.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

Clean water is always beneficial. The beneficial bacteria are attached to the filter media and other surfaces and are not harmed or removed by changing water.

The reason you would do the increments is if your fish are not used to large weekly water changes...I often do 75% weekly so I could just go forward with the gravel removal and 100% water change.

Just be sure to match your parameters for pH and temperature.

How much do you change/week now?


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

One week ill do 50, the next ill do 30, and alternate


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## judyok (Aug 12, 2014)

I didn't see and answer to the question about the level of ammonia, if any, coming from your tap water. When I tested my tap water the ammonia level is 1ppm because of the use of chloramine in the city water.


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

The benefit of sand substrate is that it also is a huge area for B.B. to colonize and takes a lot of load off the filters. Food and waste get trapped in gravel and contributes greatly to issues with ammonia and nitrates. I don't think for a second that the problem stems from the tap water because the normal range for chloramine treated water is .5-1 ppm of ammonia and if there was sufficient filtration this would be gone in less than 24 hours. I am 100% convinced that it's a lack of adequate biological filtration causing the bulk of the issues.


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

There is no ammonia in my tap water


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

Thanks for the help, and with the majority saying inadequate filtering, I am going to go get another filter, and hopefully that will do the trick. Thanks everyone!


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## caldwelldaniel26 (Jun 11, 2017)

You want to shoot for 8-10 times the water volume of the aquarium per hour turnover rate with your filters.


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## joselepiu (Jul 22, 2017)

Aarbear44 said:


> Thanks for the help, and with the majority saying inadequate filtering, I am going to go get another filter, and hopefully that will do the trick. Thanks everyone!


are you going to add to what you have or exchange it?...

if you are going to exchange the old filter for new ones you need to first let the new ones grow and establish a new beneficial bacteria colony, that is run both, the old and the new for at least 3 - 4 weeks and then after that change to sand...

keep us informed...

good luck...


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## scubacrazy123 (Jan 5, 2015)

I would check your test kit first.
See if you can get someone else to test ammonia for you, just in case.
The reagent might be out of date or something.
Just something easy to eliminate.


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## Aarbear44 (Dec 25, 2017)

I added to what I already have.


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