Cycling mystery: Prime + Chloramine treated tap water

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PostalPenguin

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jun 30, 2010
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Denver CO
After a recent move across country I am apparently dealing with some ammonia spikes in a few of my tanks. However, I am confused as to what truly is going on. Three of my tanks show about 0.5-1ppm. Testing another tank, which got 75% RO/DI and 25% tap shows 0ppm and my RO/DI water is also at 0ppm. In one tank with the highest ammonia readings we have been doing several water changes to keep the levels down. However, the ammonia levels continue to rise.

This prompted me to test my tap water before adding dechlorinator which is showing 1-2ppm of ammonia.:WHOA: So it seems I have been making the problem worse with each water change. :irked::nilly:

So my questions are:

Does the API ammonia test detect the ammonia from chloramine treated tap water or does my tap water truly have 1-2ppm of ammonia in it? Keep in mind that I am getting the 1-2ppm of ammonia reading before adding any dechlorinator.

Are the ammonia readings in each tank due to the Prime and chloramine reaction? If so should I expect ammonia readings after every water change?
 
PostalPenguin said:
After a recent move across country I am apparently dealing with some ammonia spikes in a few of my tanks. However, I am confused as to what truly is going on. Three of my tanks show about 0.5-1ppm. Testing another tank, which got 75% RO/DI and 25% tap shows 0ppm and my RO/DI water is also at 0ppm. In one tank with the highest ammonia readings we have been doing several water changes to keep the levels down. However, the ammonia levels continue to rise.

This prompted me to test my tap water before adding dechlorinator which is showing 1-2ppm of ammonia.:WHOA: So it seems I have been making the problem worse with each water change. :irked::nilly:

So my questions are:

Does the API ammonia test detect the ammonia from chloramine treated tap water or does my tap water truly have 1-2ppm of ammonia in it? Keep in mind that I am getting the 1-2ppm of ammonia reading before adding any dechlorinator.

Are the ammonia readings in each tank due to the Prime and chloramine reaction? If so should I expect ammonia readings after every water change?
Click to expand...

The chemical reaction of prime acting upon chloramine, is that it will neutralize the chlorine component and convert the left over ammonia into ammonium NH3 into NH4. Ammonium is not toxic to fish in dosages that would be encountered in the aquarium.

The API test kit reads total ammonia both NH3 and NH4. It doesn't differentiate between the two. IF you want to differentiate between the two, then you would need a test kit such as the one seachem which will show separate results both NH3 and NH4.

If ammonia or ammonium levels are increasing, it indicates your bio filtration is not effective yet.
Even when using old media to help cycle, treat the tank as a new cycle. Wait for 0 ammonia and nitrites and + results for nitrates.
 
Well I am still confused as to if my tap water truly has 1-2ppm of ammonia or if the API test is able to detect chloramine because I haven't added any Prime at that point. Once I have added Prime I understand that I will get ammonia readings but why am I getting ammonia readings on straight tap water?

I suspect the ammonia levels are rising in my tanks because they got tap water rather than RO/DI. I did a 50% water change in one tank with RO/DI and the ammonia levels are now practically 0. The frequent water changes in that tank seemingly were adding tons of ammonia into the tank with each change. We'd then test the water, see the rise in ammonia, and do another water change which would in turn add more ammonia to the tank. One water change with RO/DI water and the levels have dropped to nearly 0.
 
Hey PostalPenguin! Assuming you live in Denver, CO, your 2011 Water Quality Report indicates that the range of Chloramine levels in Denver tap water is 0.87-2.05ppm, so your 1-2ppm estimate is right on target. There is no indication that ammonia is in the tap water. See the last page of the report: http://www.denverwater.org/docs/ass...B-2AA5A466863A3C99/2011WaterQualityReport.pdf

That being said, I do not believe that the API test kit will detect complexed ammonia, such as chloramine, so it is strange that you are getting 1-2ppm ammonia from the tap before adding Prime. In general it doesn't make sense that an ammonia test kit would detect bound ammonia, because there are tons of molecules in our tanks that contain bound ammonia, such as proteins and amino acids, that would result in false positive readings.

I have just sent a message to API asking if their test kit detects ammonia in the form of chloramine, and any thoughts on why there would be an ammonia reading in water with chloramine but no ammonia prior to adding any type of water conditioner. I'll post their response when I receive it.

Now my question is have your tanks cycled? If so the ammonia should be processed fairly quickly, certainly within the 24 hour period that prime works to detoxify the ammonia.
 
Hi, welcome to Colorado. I'm in Thornton, north of Denver also have had chloramine in the water. Have had the same results with the API test kits showing ammonia in the tap. My tanks seem to consume the ammonia within a couple hours
 
PostalPenguin said:
After a recent move across country I am apparently dealing with some ammonia spikes in a few of my tanks. However, I am confused as to what truly is going on. Three of my tanks show about 0.5-1ppm. Testing another tank, which got 75% RO/DI and 25% tap shows 0ppm and my RO/DI water is also at 0ppm. In one tank with the highest ammonia readings we have been doing several water changes to keep the levels down. However, the ammonia levels continue to rise.

This prompted me to test my tap water before adding dechlorinator which is showing 1-2ppm of ammonia.:WHOA: So it seems I have been making the problem worse with each water change. :irked::nilly:

So my questions are:

Does the API ammonia test detect the ammonia from chloramine treated tap water or does my tap water truly have 1-2ppm of ammonia in it? Keep in mind that I am getting the 1-2ppm of ammonia reading before adding any dechlorinator.

Are the ammonia readings in each tank due to the Prime and chloramine reaction? If so should I expect ammonia readings after every water change?
Click to expand...


This thread may assist you.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/f...128185-Easy-Test-for-Chloramine-in-Tap-Water&
 
calioutlaw1a said:
Now my question is have your tanks cycled? If so the ammonia should be processed fairly quickly, certainly within the 24 hour period that prime works to detoxify the ammonia.
Click to expand...

Our tanks are going through some mini-cycles as the bio-media was kept wet but not in a filter for about 72 hours. We floated various sponges in each bucket of fish for the move across country and some buckets seem to have kept the bio-media in better shape. I am interested to see what API says about their tests. I certainly hope I do not have that much ammonia in my tap water.
 
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