ok guys I am completly stumped here and need help. I have had a constant level of total ammonia of .25ppm in my 220 for about a month now. I do a 50% water change weekly and the level goes to zero but is back to .25 by weeks end. I purchased an ammonia alert by seachem and it shows perfect water conditions. my liquid test and test strips show .25ppm. This led be to the conclusion I have NH4 or ammonium not NH3 or ammonia in my aquarium. Now since NH3 is the toxic kind am I in trouble or not? My aquarium is planted fairly heavily and I read that plants preffer ammonium over nitrate for their conversion into protein and will actually compete for food with my biological filtration. Could this be why my filters won't keep it out? I am not over stocked by any means and I am way over filtered, I just can't seem to figure this one out.. Please help!!
ammonia vs. ammonium HELP!!!
- Thread starter dodgefreak8
- Start date
treid stress-zyme and cycle no help. I don't think its a bactreia problem but i could be wrong.. thanks for the suggestion though
ewurm said:
bad idea
then all the good bacteria wil starve maknig this worse
hey dodge whats the ph of your water?
delgado ph is about 7.6..
ewurm...One thing also to consider with ammonia chips is they usually will release the ammonia again
ewurm...One thing also to consider with ammonia chips is they usually will release the ammonia again
I'm a little confused from all the info I have read regarding Ammonia and Ammonium too. Apparently above a PH of around 7, ammonia is present in ammonium form, which is less toxic to fish. But AFAIK biological filtration should still remove ammonium so if you are getting any ammonia/ammonium reading it tends to suggest that your filtration is not coping? But - there will always be a small amount of ammonia present, there has to be or your BB will die off. As long as its barely detectable and does not spike.
Also if you have chloramine in your tap water, adding dechlorinator that removes chloramine - doesnt actually remove it as such, it converts it to ammonium/ammonia.
Also if you have chloramine in your tap water, adding dechlorinator that removes chloramine - doesnt actually remove it as such, it converts it to ammonium/ammonia.