What to do when your tap water sucks?

[Rebelsgirl]

I tested my water tonight after a large water change this morning. I added a new fish last night and I wanted to check "just in case." My ammonia was at .25ppm so I completely freaked out and started doing a large water change, the entire time questioning what I did to crash my cycle so quickly.

On a hunch, I tested the tap water. The attached picture is the results. I added extra Prime (I always add it anyway).

What do I do going forward about this obviously problematic water? Thanks!

 

[Beetlebug515]

Odds are the ammonia reading you are getting is from chloramines in the tap water. From what I understand, more and more water districts are switching from chlorine to chloramine to disinfect out tap water. Chloramine is chlorine bonded with ammonia and has a tendency to stick around a lot longer than chlorine. Prime treats chloramines by breaking the ammonia and chlorine bonds, detoxifying the chlorine, and allowing the tanks bio-filter to process the leftover ammonia that has also been detoxified by the prime. I have the same issue in my tap, along with occasional nitrite spikes. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it as it should be consumed by your beneficial bacteria colonies quickly. I'm sure someone else can explain all of that better if need be.

 

[Deadliestviper7]

Add rainwater,which u can collect by leaving buckets,trash cans in yard,.keep only hardy fish species,add aquatic plants.

 

[Frank Castle]

Odds are the ammonia reading you are getting is from chloramines in the tap water. From what I understand, more and more water districts are switching from chlorine to chloramine to disinfect out tap water. Chloramine is chlorine bonded with ammonia and has a tendency to stick around a lot longer than chlorine. Prime treats chloramines by breaking the ammonia and chlorine bonds, detoxifying the chlorine, and allowing the tanks bio-filter to process the leftover ammonia that has also been detoxified by the prime. I have the same issue in my tap, along with occasional nitrite spikes. Personally, I wouldn't worry too much about it as it should be consumed by your beneficial bacteria colonies quickly. I'm sure someone else can explain all of that better if need be.

+1 to this ...........all I would add to his post is too enforce your Beneficial Bacteria w/ supplements and extra media anywhere you can put it to assist speeding up the nitrogen cycle R Rebelsgirl

Other options could be purchasing R/O water from a LFS, or an R/O unit for your house, or finding someplace local w/ spring water that you can fill drums with for cheap

 

[Rebelsgirl]

+1 to this ...........all I would add to his post is too enforce your Beneficial Bacteria w/ supplements and extra media anywhere you can put it to assist speeding up the nitrogen cycle R Rebelsgirl

Other options could be purchasing R/O water from a LFS, or an R/O unit for your house, or finding someplace local w/ spring water that you can fill drums with for cheap

I've already added some extra media. I think I'm going to throw another sponge filter in there too. Having to purchase RO water seems like it would be prohibitively expensive. :/

 

[duanes]

My local tap water in Milwaukee is disinfected with chloramine, and as said above, will test positive for a trace amount of ammonia (my test out usually at 0.02ppm).
I have kept fish in that water since the 1950s.
And have done 30% water changes every other day, for many of those years.
A little extra media is fine, RO is unnecessary, as long as you use a dechlorinators.
And when I do water changes, I usually add new water to the sumps first which adds an extra bit of mixing and dilution before getting to the fish (although I must admit, my reason for this is temp related)
I sometimes add rain water if I want to induce spawning for certain species.
I have never found that trace ammonia anything to get my undies in a knot about.

 

[Fish Tank Travis]

Also, I believe that Prime detoxifies the ammonia after it breaks its bond from the chlorine, if I remember correctly. This way the ammonia is there for the bio filter but is not toxic to the fish. Similar to how it bonds with the chlorine to make it non toxic while it evaporates out.

 

[Frank Castle]

My local tap water in Milwaukee is disinfected with chloramine, and as said above, will test positive for a trace amount of ammonia (my test out usually at 0.02ppm).
I have kept fish in that water since the 1950s.
And have done 30% water changes every other day, for many of those years.
A little extra media is fine, RO is unnecessary, as long as you use a dechlorinators.
And when I do water changes, I usually add new water to the sumps first which adds an extra bit of mixing and dilution before getting to the fish (although I must admit, my reason for this is temp related)
I sometimes add rain water if I want to induce spawning for certain species.
I have never found that trace ammonia anything to get my undies in a knot about.

What does the rainwater do for spawning that other forms of water does not?

 

[Rebelsgirl]

My local tap water in Milwaukee is disinfected with chloramine, and as said above, will test positive for a trace amount of ammonia (my test out usually at 0.02ppm).
I have kept fish in that water since the 1950s.
And have done 30% water changes every other day, for many of those years.
A little extra media is fine, RO is unnecessary, as long as you use a dechlorinators.
And when I do water changes, I usually add new water to the sumps first which adds an extra bit of mixing and dilution before getting to the fish (although I must admit, my reason for this is temp related)
I sometimes add rain water if I want to induce spawning for certain species.
I have never found that trace ammonia anything to get my undies in a knot about.

How are you testing your water to get such an accurate reading?

 

[joe jaskot]

What to do when your tap water sucks? Drink alcohol, LOL!