Water change question

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
J

jaws7777

Bronze Tier VIP
MFK Member
Mar 1, 2014
17,773
20,952
740
White house 1600 Pennsylvania Ave NW, Washington
Last night I did a large 75% water change and tested this morning and now i have ammonia!!! I haven't had ammonia in weeks. I have been getting nitrite and nitrate (almost done cycling) but no ammonia. I shut off the filter before refilling but fill the media tray with tank water, dose with prime then refill wait 1580min then turn everything back on.

Why the ammonia ?

Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
ascarbo27 said:
did you use prime?
Click to expand...

Did you read his post before you replied?

Not sure where the ammonia is from, but obviously the WC upset your bacteria. They were not established enough. Patience, young Skywalker.


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
 
How long after a wc and dosing with prime can you test water accurately

Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
Hey, does your city water contain Chlorine or Chloramine? If Chloramine, the way it's treated is by breaking the chlorine and ammonia bond, neutralizing the chlorine, and converting ammonia into ammonium. That ammonium is harmless, and is removed by a healthy filter over a day or two. The down side, is many test kits (API is one) do not distinguish between ammonia and ammonium. Users of prime are advised by Seachem to use their brand of test kits, which can distinguish between free ammonia and bound ammonium.

Also, it's a good idea to pre-mix water and dechlorinator before adding it to the tank (also helps ensure a good temperature match.) Though Prime only binds the ammonia for 24-48 hours, so don't let the pre-treated water sit too long! If you're not pre-mixing, you need to add enough dechlorinator to cover the entire tank volume, and not just the fresh water being added.
 
Per this thread you still have been getting ammonia.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?577313-Nitrate


Regardless, ammonia is not excreted like 1 continuous level stream 24/7. Production begins spiking about 2 hours after eating and rises then drops over many hours. In an immature tank, if you take readings 10 hours after feeding they may show no ammonia, while had you taken them 3 hours after, you might see ammonia. As the BB population grows to proper levels these readings will decline to near zero even when ammonia production is peaking due to having sufficient BB and adequate filtration.

Seeing nitrites is an indicator that the tank is not mature. Seeing ammonia at any time is a similar indicator.

It's of course reasonable to assume as HarleyK posted that the WC impacted the BB and destroyed some, although in a mature tank this would not be noticeable.
 
Drstrangelove said:
Per this thread you still have been getting ammonia.

http://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/showthread.php?577313-Nitrate


Regardless, ammonia is not excreted like 1 continuous level stream 24/7. Production begins spiking about 2 hours after eating and rises then drops over many hours. In an immature tank, if you take readings 10 hours after feeding they may show no ammonia, while had you taken them 3 hours after, you might see ammonia. As the BB population grows to proper levels these readings will decline to near zero even when ammonia production is peaking due to having sufficient BB and adequate filtration.

Seeing nitrites is an indicator that the tank is not mature. Seeing ammonia at any time is a similar indicator.

It's of course reasonable to assume as HarleyK posted that the WC impacted the BB and destroyed some, although in a mature tank this would not be noticeable.
Click to expand...


In the beginning of that thread I was getting ammonia ...but as the thread progress in was not. There are even pics which show 0 ammonia.

Im gonna find out whats inn my water I am on city water so maybe chloramine.

Yes the tank isn't mature.
Militant potato. I always just dose for the entire tank. Maybe your right about the tap gonna look into it. I hope I am not going to have to go through a whole cycle again
Sent from my SPH-L710 using MonsterAquariaNetwork App
 
I only dose dechlor for the amount of water I'm changing, if course my water is pretty much pristine with nearly no detectable chlorine or chloramine and no nitrates.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
MonsterFishKeepers.com
Top Bottom