I took a water sample to a local LFS yesterday, had .50 on the Ammonia.

I told the owner of the store that I was in day 7 of cycling a 10gal tank with 3 guppies, java moss. good ph 7.7 and I was using Prime. I use API drops test
That I was doing 10 % water changes on the 3rd and 5th and 6th day of the cycle because the test showed 1. LFS owner said that she didn't think 3 guppies should be producing that much ammonia.


The LFS owner checked my tank water and it was .50
She asked me all kinds of questions....Do I have any coral, sea shells, other fish?  No wa my answer, then she said for me to check my tap water for ammonia.

I did today and sure enough it was at least .50 straight out of the tap...GROSS I drink that!!!! I am ready to call the state board of health!!!

Tested for Ammonia in the tank and it was 1 this morning.
So I did a 10% water change, and by mistake I add 1ml of Prime to my water and I still have .50 ammonia in the tank.

What do I do about the ammonia levels in the tap water for the fish tank?
What can I do about the ammonia levels that I am drinking...that my children are drinking?!?!?

My master kit will be here on Friday, and the LFS was out of Nitrate and Nitrite testing drops, so was not able to test the water for me. That bummed me out.
_________________
Amanda Lee~ "I am from The Deep South. Where the Mocking bird sings and the azaleas are blooming!"
Mama to P & V L 6-7-2005
Betta~ Bert in a 2.5 gal tank...living life up good!
2 Orange Sunshine Guppies in a 10 gal tank

I'm eager to see the answers to this as well because the same happened to me. I'm in NJ and my tap water has always had 0ppm ammonia but as of 2 weeks ago, the water straight out of the tap has 1-2ppm of the toxin. Needless to say, during a partial water change I lost a koi, a shubunkin, a celestial goldie and a few comets. What I've done is use ammo lock to lock in on the ammonia and make it safer for fish while still keeping it in the water for the bacteria to eat. How does that work? I have nooo idea, but it seems to be doing the trick. I've called the mayor of my town and gotten public health involved.

Please do NOT use ammo lock.  It makes the ammonia unavailable to bacteria and thus starves the biofilter.

Instead, play mad scientist (outside of the tank) a bit to see how much prime it takes to remove all the ammonia in your tap water.  Use a gallon of water and count how much Prime you have to use to come up with a zero ammonia level...then use that as your guide for water changes.

Once the tank is stable and fully cycled, you won't need to use extra Prime because your good bacteria will quickly convert the ammonia that is added with the water changes.

As far as you and your family, invest in a Pur tap water filter that attaches to your sink faucet.  I would not drink water with that much ammonia in it, although it likely it still within the legal limit.  *yuck*

Thanks Giraffe!!! I did add extra Prime today when I changed the water. I will have play "mad scientist"

I had a PUR water filter on the kitchen faucet but the housing keep cracking. So I took it off. I am looking a the 3M under the sink filter system.
_________________
Amanda Lee~ "I am from The Deep South. Where the Mocking bird sings and the azaleas are blooming!"
Mama to P & V L 6-7-2005
Betta~ Bert in a 2.5 gal tank...living life up good!
2 Orange Sunshine Guppies in a 10 gal tank

Is this a well or city water?  Just out of curiousity.  And Gir is right on, just be sure to drink the PUR water and fill the tank with regular tap water.  The PUR water can remove other buffering agents and cause instability with your water parameters.

The tank may take a little longer since everytime you add water its .50 but it will cycle.
_________________
Jared & his Swamp Collies

Those that say high school are the best years of your life never held their newborn child.

This message brought to you courtesy of the RED, WHITE, and BLUE!!!

Interesting Jared.  I've used PUR water for years in my tank and never had a problem with the kH dropping.  Course, I live in central FL where the kH is all but untestable because it's so high.  Even if the PUR filter removed half of my kH I'd be on the high end of the charts.  I imagine for folks with "normal" water, it might do some damage.

Also, PUR has a couple styles now.  THe original one cracked for us too because it was heavy and you had to flip it around to use it.  Between the constant movement and the weight, it not only cracked the housing, but it pulled my sink fixture loose from it's case.  We had to ultimately get one that had a dial on the unit that turned it off and on, instead of having to move the unit.

Jared, this a rural water association system.  

My ph runs 7.7 to 7.8
_________________
Amanda Lee~ "I am from The Deep South. Where the Mocking bird sings and the azaleas are blooming!"
Mama to P & V L 6-7-2005
Betta~ Bert in a 2.5 gal tank...living life up good!
2 Orange Sunshine Guppies in a 10 gal tank

That pH is just fine for both gups and bettas.  The ammonia is still an issue of course...but I've always had a pH of 7.8 which is normal around FL.

Ive never run a PUR system I was afraid it would make unstable water given what they are said to remove.  Id be curious to test it before and after.

Just want to be careful thats all.  Might be fine but figured better safe than sorry.
_________________
Jared & his Swamp Collies

Those that say high school are the best years of your life never held their newborn child.

This message brought to you courtesy of the RED, WHITE, and BLUE!!!

It would be interesting to find a member with a PUR system that could test before and after.  I honestly have never been able to get an accurate read on my kH...the test tube overflows before the color change happens.

PUR filters have carbon and ion exchange resin. I've read that they can help reduce ammonia from the tap but have not read about it reducing hardness. I believe you may need a reverse osmosis membrane or a salt softener to remove hardness, but I guess a salt softener is a type of ion exchange, I know a carbon block won't do it though. Would be interesting to see some ammonia, KH and GH test results from a PUR user, especially over the long term. I know some folks have reported big pH reductions from high 7's down to low 6's, removing harness should make it 7 so something is up there, it must be able to remove the soda ash and whatnot that makes some of our tap pH so artificially high before gassing off, but leaves the excess CO2? My main gripe about them is that they don't work as long or as well as an RO unit, and have replaceable parts that add up to RO cost after just a couple filter swaps, when you add the cost of the whole faucet unit. RO filter replacement is suggested around once a year but can be pushed much farther than that, versus the PUR filter's 2-3 month supply.
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!

Jaidexl, What is a RO unit, and how pricey are they??? I have been think about getting the 3M's filter system that goes under the sink.

Thanks
_________________
Amanda Lee~ "I am from The Deep South. Where the Mocking bird sings and the azaleas are blooming!"
Mama to P & V L 6-7-2005
Betta~ Bert in a 2.5 gal tank...living life up good!
2 Orange Sunshine Guppies in a 10 gal tank

Yeah Jaidexl...but RO water tastes awful.  I wouldn't want that to be my drinking water at the sink.  

You think so? I like it, the RO/DI tastes funny to me though. I guess you get accustom to a certain amount of minerals, my RO still has just a little, but absolutely none in the DI and it feels almost metallic on my tongue.

2DixieDarlings; RO unit means "reverse osmosis filter". A good one has 4 or 5 stages. That includes a few chambers with sediment filters and carbon blocks, then an RO membrane on the top which is basically a super tight filter membrane that works under pressure and rejects dirty water. Some have another chamber full of deionizing resin (RO/DI), this purifies the water down to nothing but hydrogen ions, no KH or GH left at all, no TDS (total dissolved solids). Since fish and plants appreciate some minerals, this water needs to be 'reconstituted' with GH booster, and baking soda for KH, before going into the aquarium. Sounds like a lot of work for nothing, but it removes all the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate from my water as well, not to mention the unknown junk. Drinking water from the grocery store goes through the same process, and has some calcium,  magnesium, and/or potassium added back for taste (makes it smoother).

They're easily attached under the sink or to a spigot using a garden hose adapter. I have mine on the laundry spigot and mounted over the utility sink. They produce an average of 75 gallons per day, that's roughly an hour or so for a 5gl jug to fill, and a minute or so for a glass. They reject a lot of dirty water that can be used for doing laundry, watering plants or gardens. It really isn't that dirty, it was your tap water to begin with, it is rejected so fast as clean water is produced so slowly, that it really doesn't magnify into disgusting water like I would have thought, it tastes just like the tap. The PUR filters are very small versions of this but lack an RO membrane to reject the filth.

They run anywhere from $99 to $300, the cheapest are at ebay and work great. It's not recommended to get a portable or small size one unless you absolutely need it, because you will just be replacing filters more often to keep pristine water quality. Some slightly more expensive models from more reputable dealers are at filterguys.com and airwaterice.com, I have an Air Water Ice Typhoon III, only because it was tax time and that's as close as I get to buying expensive toys. Actually, it does have an advantage, the DI chamber is vertical, horizontal DI chambers allow water to take the path of least resistance and not all of the resin comes in contact with water. It is also a clear chamber which makes it easy to see when the color changing resin is exhausted and in need of a change. There are only a few out there that have this option, the rest have white, vertical DI chambers. I've owned it for almost 3yrs and have only changed the filters out once, not including the membrane, 0 TDS water the whole time. Here it is...

http://aquamaniacs.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=26930
_________________
Melt all plastic plants!

my tap water measures 0.50 with the api freshwater test kit. look up on the web "chloramines in drinking water" this skould help describe the ammonia level questions

Having never used the PUR system, I'm just speaking cautiously here.  I would test the water before and after the PUR system to see what changes it creates.

Just didnt want to remove one issue to create another.
_________________
Jared & his Swamp Collies

Those that say high school are the best years of your life never held their newborn child.

This message brought to you courtesy of the RED, WHITE, and BLUE!!!

Hi Briar and welcome!

Is your test showing this after you add a water conditioner or before?  Ammonia usually won't show up if it's still bonded in chloramine.  If your water conditioner doesn't truly address chloramines, then it will definitely show up after the chlorine/ammonia bond has been broken.

My tap water ammonia reading is 0.50 before adding prime conditioner.

THat likely, then, is true ammonia in the water and not the ammonia from chloramines.