Ammonia in tap water

amajoh · 01-31-2013, 04:04 PM

Forgive the newb question, but I'm not sure what to do. I am cycling a tank at the moment and have not been able to get the ammonia level below .25ppm despite the high level of nitrites and nitrates I'm currently registering, so I did a test on the water straight from the tap and it is 1ppm. I know this isn't good. Is using distilled water an option if I add ferts to make up for the nutrients that won't be in the water?

m00se · 01-31-2013, 04:13 PM

Your test is reading ammonia in the form of chloramines. Your city water uses it instead of chlorine to disinfect your water. You can google it and read all about it. Basically you need one of these products to reduce the chloramines to harmless:

http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...ges/Prime.html

http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html

(Safe is the powdered version of Prime and is MUCH cheaper PER USE but more $$ to buy)

http://www.reedmariculture.com/product_cloram_x.html

http://www.novalek.com/kordon/amquel/index.htm

Pick one. Be aware that SOME chloramine removing products contain polymers that will ruin resin-based charcoal substitutes like Purigen. Read your labels.

I am lucky. I live where there's no chloramines, so I get a pound of sodium thiosulfate and make my own dechlor that lasts me about a year for $4.

amajoh · 01-31-2013, 05:38 PM

Wow, you are lucky. Thanks for the info!

01-31-2013, 04:04 PM	#1
amajoh Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 68	Ammonia in tap water Forgive the newb question, but I'm not sure what to do. I am cycling a tank at the moment and have not been able to get the ammonia level below .25ppm despite the high level of nitrites and nitrates I'm currently registering, so I did a test on the water straight from the tap and it is 1ppm. I know this isn't good. Is using distilled water an option if I add ferts to make up for the nutrients that won't be in the water?

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01-31-2013, 04:13 PM	#2
m00se Wannabe Guru (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Jan 2011 Location: Syracuse, NY Posts: 1,282	Your test is reading ammonia in the form of chloramines. Your city water uses it instead of chlorine to disinfect your water. You can google it and read all about it. Basically you need one of these products to reduce the chloramines to harmless: http://www.seachem.com/Products/prod...ges/Prime.html http://www.seachem.com/Products/product_pages/Safe.html (Safe is the powdered version of Prime and is MUCH cheaper PER USE but more $$ to buy) http://www.reedmariculture.com/product_cloram_x.html http://www.novalek.com/kordon/amquel/index.htm Pick one. Be aware that SOME chloramine removing products contain polymers that will ruin resin-based charcoal substitutes like Purigen. Read your labels. I am lucky. I live where there's no chloramines, so I get a pound of sodium thiosulfate and make my own dechlor that lasts me about a year for $4.

01-31-2013, 05:38 PM	#3
amajoh Algae Grower (View User Tanks) PTrader: (4/100%) Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Texas, USA Posts: 68	Wow, you are lucky. Thanks for the info!