I just got a fish aquarium and my ammonia levels are high. What do I do??

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
The ammonia test will show + for total ammonia in chloramine treated water. Water department confirmed this for me over decade ago (when using TAN tests)
Yeah, last time I had to deal with city treated water was 10 years ago. How much a concern is it? What is the usual conc of chloramine in city water reaching end user, few ppm?
 
Can I feed my fish now or should i wait after i put some prime

ok I will tell u every day and ill test with API and the website you told me
 
If you can't get prime for 1 week, feed once a day every other day (since they are still small). You don't want to feed until belly is round. Just enough so they have food in them.
Ok yeah ill buy some prime today and start medicating them and only feed a tiny bit. I just have one peacock bass that eats everything and he gets a round belly fast and doesn't let anyone else eat lol

hey good job man! It's ok to make mistakes. We all started out ignorant! You are handling this really well so far in my opinion. I hope you come back!
ill be back for about a week thanks guys so much especially Rocksor and the biggerthebetter. I feel so much more relevied. ill be back tmr with water results
 
well i feel much better now so my aquarium is safe?
yes but it not cycled and is UNSTABLE, hence as Rocksor says the need for testing 1-2-3 times a day.

In my city, they told me that I get max of 4ppm chloramine treated water. The API ammonia test will show 0.25-0.5ppm for TAN.

Live and learn. I am glad you chimed in. This is still not definitive for me - out of 4 ppm you personally see 0.25-0.50 ppm on your ammonia API test? 4 ppm may be at the treatment plant. After going through all the pipes, it may reach you at the same 0.25-0.50 ppm... and then I'd surmise that the ENTIRE chloramine conc is readable and adds to total nitrogen!? I mean is it a partial reading or a real total presence of chloramine?

Chlorine atom vastly changes nitrogen atom property and changes its state of oxidation, so it is not longer -3 as it is in ammonia and ammonium, or is it?

Test for ammonia twice a day for 1 week to see how high it goes, then you can switch to everyday ammonia test until tank is cycled. Test nitrite every other day. When toxic ammonia from the chart hits above 0.02ppm, do a 25%-50% water change.

Agreed. I'd add you can substitute the WCs with detox agents per label.

Can I feed my fish now or should i wait after i put some prime
Your tank is very unstable. As Rocksor said, feed very conservatively and watch that they eat. If they don't eat = they feel sick from ammonia and nitrite.
 
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ok the oscars are the only ones meeting as i just fed pellets. but i will feed the peacock bass right now and let you guys know

wait so dont treat with prime unless it hits 4 ppm on the API test?

should i get fluval ammonia removal pads?
 
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