# High ammonia levels



## Cassandra90 (Aug 16, 2010)

Well I have done two water changes in a row the past 2 days.

I tested the water last night the levels were:
Ph: 6.8ppm
Nitrate: 15ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Ammonia: 8ppm

I have a feeling that can not be right. Ammonia that high would for sure cause some damage. The tank is well over a year old. I keep up on frequent water changes, it is a 55 gallon long. The past two days I took out the first day 25 gallon and yesterday I changes 10 gallons. I usually do 10 gallon water change every 5 days and a 50% water change every 3 weeks. I am treating for ick. I have the temp raised to 82, and using Ich Attack. 

I do use ammonia lock in the tank. I also used the API Master Water Test Kit. I know ammonia lock makes the ammonia safe by processing it. But still a reading of 8ppm seems a bit to high. Could the test be wrong?

I have:
3 Angel Fish (medium)
2 Kissing Gouramis (small)
2 Opaline Gouramis (small)
1 KilliFish
6 Emerald Green Corys


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## TwinDad (Mar 3, 2011)

Cassandra90 said:


> Well I have done two water changes in a row the past 2 days.
> 
> I tested the water last night the levels were:
> Ph: 6.8ppm
> ...



There is a similar thread. I also believe that the other person used Ammo-Lock. Ammo-Lock I believe changes the ammonia to Ammonium. The test kits reads both, however ammonium is not harmfull to fish.

Have any live plants? what is your filter? Does you tap water have ammonia?

other thread:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/8-ppm-ammonia-readings-fish-alive-67785/


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## Cassandra90 (Aug 16, 2010)

Have any live plants? what is your filter? Does you tap water have ammonia?[/quote]

I have 6 live plants, which I trim the dead leaves as soon as possible. I have a aqua tech 30-60 gallon, I am planning on getting a second filter. I also have a undergravel filter. I have not tested my tap water, but I really don't think it has ammonia in it. I also leave my tap water sit for 24 hours with water conditioner in it before water changes.


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## TwinDad (Mar 3, 2011)

Cassandra90 said:


> Have any live plants? what is your filter? Does you tap water have ammonia? I also leave my tap water sit for 24 hours with water conditioner in it before water changes.


What water conditioner?

I know in the majority of threads that people have issues Bryon asks people the parameters of their tap water. I think it's good to know. There was interesting information on a high PH thread about too much of a difference between tank PH and tap PH might be harmful on water changes with to much swing.

I didn't think my tap had ammonia in it either but somebody in a thread said to put tap in a jar and wait 24 hours, then test it. My PH went down from 7.8 to 7.6, and I noted about .5-1ppm ammonia. 

My point is if you use a conditioner such as Prime, which converts ammonia to ammonium, your tests after a water change will read ammonia and you might might not know that your water change is what is making the levels still high after a water change. It's good to know the sources.


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## Cassandra90 (Aug 16, 2010)

I will test the water today when I get home. I never really thought of testing it for ammonia, I have tested if for the Ph level. I know my Ph is fine, Angels usually need Ph from 5.8 to 7. I use Aqueon Water Conditioner. Thank you!


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

A couple of issues.

First, your undergravel filter. Any chance it is clogged, or there may be something under the plate? Decaying anything will increase ammonia--dead snails, fish, plant leaves, detritus, organics.

With the pH below 7 the ammonia will be harmless ammonium. Test kits read ammonia/ammonium as ammonia, so if the pH is below 7 it is not an emergency, but the cause should still be ascertained since this is not normal or healthy.

Plants consume considerable ammonium (ammonia) so again with live plants having ammonia/ammonium showing on a test kit is cause for concern as it never should.

Is there any chance the pH may rise above 7? If the ammonia (as ammonium) is really 8ppm and the pH rises above 7, I can promise all fish in the tank will die quickly. Be careful with water changes if this could result (an increase in pH).

The Aqueon water conditioner will not handle ammonia, according to what I found on their website. This is only an issue if ammonia is present in the tap water of course, in which case a conditioner that detoxifies ammonia would be advisable for water changes.

Byron.


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## Cassandra90 (Aug 16, 2010)

There shouldn't be any thing under my UGF, I took it apart 2 weeks ago and cleaned under it. I have never had the Ph go above 7. It has always been about 6 to 6.8ppm.

I have added ammo-lock, which does convert the ammonia, so the test kit still reads ammonia though, right?


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Cassandra90 said:


> There shouldn't be any thing under my UGF, I took it apart 2 weeks ago and cleaned under it. I have never had the Ph go above 7. It has always been about 6 to 6.8ppm.
> 
> I have added ammo-lock, which does convert the ammonia, so the test kit still reads ammonia though, right?


Yes. But with an acidic pH, I wuld not use the Ammo-lock. It may or may not affect things, I don't know how it works; but as it is not necessary, I myself would not use it in case there is some interference with the natural processes. I prefer to let nature deal with things.;-)


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## Cassandra90 (Aug 16, 2010)

Byron said:


> Yes. But with an acidic pH, I wuld not use the Ammo-lock. It may or may not affect things, I don't know how it works; but as it is not necessary, I myself would not use it in case there is some interference with the natural processes. I prefer to let nature deal with things.;-)


I will try that and see what will happen. Since I do have ich, I should be doing small daily water changes right? The ich has fallen off of the fish so it is in the gravel bed, each water change I syphon the gravel.


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## Cassandra90 (Aug 16, 2010)

Bryon,
I tested my water in the buckets that I have been letting sit out for 24 hours. The ammonia reads 00ppm for them, and the Ph is 7ppm.
Then I tested my tank again and the Ph has gone down to 6.5ppm and the ammonia levels went down a tad bit, to about 7ppm.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

Cassandra90 said:


> Bryon,
> I tested my water in the buckets that I have been letting sit out for 24 hours. The ammonia reads 00ppm for them, and the Ph is 7ppm.
> Then I tested my tank again and the Ph has gone down to 6.5ppm and the ammonia levels went down a tad bit, to about 7ppm.


The pH is fine, the ammonia I still donot fathom.

The pH in an aquarium will normally lower as the water acidifies due to the natural processes. The hardnes sof the source water determines how fast this will occur. You can find out the hardness from your water supply people; that will tell us what to expect.

Good news is that with an acidic pH the ammonia will not hurt the fish. But that still doesn't explain where it is coming from. I wonder if it is in the ich medication? No idea, just a thought.

Are you using any plant fertilizer, and if so, which? They might contain nitrogen, ammonia is one form of nitrogen.


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## Cassandra90 (Aug 16, 2010)

I am using API Leaf Zone when I remember to add it to the tank. And the ich medication I am using is called Ich Attack all herbal.


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## Byron (Mar 7, 2009)

The Leaf Zone according to API's website contains iron and potassium, so unlikeloy to be the culprit, though it may cause reactions [more in a moment on this]. I wuld suggest changing to Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive when the LZ is gone, as there is a lot missing.

In another similar thread yesterday, Mikaila mentioned the reaction of various substances like water conditioner and test kit regents causing false readings in ammonia. That thread also had ammonia at 8. Might want to read through that thread, here it is:
http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/8-ppm-ammonia-readings-fish-alive-67785/

Byron.


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## TwinDad (Mar 3, 2011)

So even though many are not fans of the test strips. Might this be a situation that a different testing method might be useful to find out if it is a false positive? Or do the majority of test kits for ammonia use the same chemicals?

It could be a combination of the fertilizer and the Naphthoquinone in the ich medicine.


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