Tap Water

[azzndude2005]

What do you guys do if your tap water contain Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate? I thought I had a cycled sponge and I couldn't figure out why I still have traces of Ammonia, and nitrite. Then today I did a 100% water change and it was still the same after the test. I decided to test the tap water and all three showed up.

[RyanH]

All of the posts that have been coming up here lately of people with ammonia in their tap water is a bit concerning to me. :(

Use Prime prior to adding the water to your tank. It will neutralize all organic wastes including ammonia. Your tests will come up positive even after you've used the Prime but the ammonia is no longer toxic to your fish.

You could also run all of your water through an RO unit. Just be sure to add minerals back to the water before using it in your tanks. Pure RO is not buffered and isn't very good for your fish.

If you have city water, I would also call the water company and *****. There is no reason why people should be expected to drink ammonia. :mad:

JMHO
-Ryan

[Bainbridge Mike]

FYI--the Federal government (through the Safe Drinking Water Act) has established standards to ensure the purity of drinking water. The standards were toughened up a bit in a few years ago--just at the end of the Clinton Administration. They are fairly protective so I doubt they would allow much ammonia in your water. You might ask your water company whether it is in compliance with the Act--and ask when your water was last tested. I believe they are obligated to share the test results with anyone who asks.

Mike

[azzndude2005]

http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/13/MSC_ID/162/MTO_ID/281/C_ID/2924
http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/13/MSC_ID/166/MTO_ID/294/C_ID/1259

I think this have something to do with it but I'm not sure. I've checked their water quality report and it said the water contain chloramine, a combination of chlorine and ammonia.

http://sfwater.org/detail.cfm/MC_ID/13/MSC_ID/166/MTO_ID/299/C_ID/1456/ListID/1
So when I aged the water and the chlorine evaporate, does it leave behind ammonia? It also said that it cotain nitrate about 2ppm average.

I also found the water database if anyone is interested. It's only for the bay area.
http://sfbay.wr.usgs.gov/access/wqdata/query/easy.html

[Timbo]

most likely the ammonia you are getting a reading on from yur test kit is free ammonia (harmless) resulting from the conditioner breaking the chloramine bond. this will not adversely affect your fish or biofilter

[Tony_S]

If these test kits are the only ones youve tried, you might want to try a different set. Borrow a friends, or buy a couple of new ones....or take a water sample to the LFS and have them test it.... Maybe they're shot?

Tony

[Alight]

The ammonia is almost certainly from the chloramine breakdown, which prime will do. It will also bind the ammonia as ammonium, the non toxic product (free ammonia is actually the harmful stuff).

This can be as much as 0.2 ppm. The chlorine is also neutralized by prime.

Simply aging water will NOT get rid of chloramine, or cause it to break down into ammonia and chlorine (at least not overnight).


I wouldn't be concerned with this in your tap water. The nitrate levels are low, and may also be a result of the ammonia, as some test kits measure total nitrogen, which will include the ammonia.

If you have nitrites, however, you have a problem. Nitrites should not be present in your tap water. Nitrites are toxic in even small quantities (at least for your fish, if not you). If these are present, I would put a cycled filter in your aging tank which should remove all nitrites within 24 hours. Use water that has no nitrites in it for your water changes.

I would complain to your water company if you have nitrites present. This indicates some real contamination of your water supply.