# Ammonia off the charts



## jonathans004 (May 2, 2010)

i want to start off by saying that i am brand new to the site and i want to thank everyone in advance for any helpful advice and tips. 

ok. well i am new to aquariums and fish keeping but ive been doing ALOT of homework to try to educate myself on the hobby. mostly on cycling a new tank, which i never knew existed before. anyway i have a 29 gallion tank that is fully decorated and running. i have started the fishless cycling process and its been going for a few days now. i added bacteria from an established tank and was adding ammonia daily to feed it. i was worried because it took an unusually high number of drops (290) to get my levels up to 5 ppm. i read that you specifically remember the amount of drops on the first day and add that same amount every day until nitrites appear then cut it in half. so thats what i did and it went well for about 3 days. i tested my ammonia levels on day 4 and its up around 8 ppm if not more. this freaked me out because i dont want my bacteria to die and have to start the process over from scratch. i did a 20% water change, let it cycle around, and tested again with another sky high reading of 8 ppm or more. i guess my main question is: Is this a normal part of the "ammonia spike"? or are these levels WAY TOO HIGH and i need to continue to do water changes until its back down around 5 ppm?


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## AaronCombs (Feb 26, 2010)

on new tanks ammonia can spike like that.

however if it stays high, which one of mine did.... you just have to do do water changes to start lowering it.

I'd also check your water source for ammonia b/c we have had cases were tap water was 1ppm. 
If this happens you'll have to buy water from a jug.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

> I'd also check your water source for ammonia b/c we have had cases were tap water was 1ppm.
> If this happens you'll have to buy water from a jug.


Using a water conditioner that detoxifies ammonia is probably a better solution if there is ammonia in the tap water. Many conditioners now do this. They detoxify the ammonia by changing it to the harmless ammonium, which plants use (if planted) and nitrosomonas bacteria also use as ammonia.

Similarly if there were nitrite or nitrate in the tap water, a conditioner like Prime that also detoxifies these works for water changes.

Byron.


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## PRichs87 (Dec 30, 2009)

Just stick to using a dechlorinater like Byron spoke about and stick with those water changes, might be a pain, but its worth it eventually!


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