how do you remove ammonia???????

[sophie68]

Hi everybody,:)

Well, I am getting a bit impatient here because I have been reading 0.25 of ammonia in my 80 gallon for about a week now. My ph varies between 6.8 and 7 so I know that it's ammonium when the ph is under 7. Still, I tested my tap water and there is NO ammonia in it. I have been doing daily 40% water changes (even though I have arthritis in my back and need to take it easy!!!!), added an aqua-clear with ammo chips in it, even added Bio-Spira, nothing works!!!!! At this point, I am not even feeding my fish anymore. I have an Eheim canister filer (pro 3 2076 designed for 100 gallons) and a big sponge filter. My tank has 4 four inches discus in it and 1 small one. I also have 5 sterbai cories and 5 ABNs.
My water params are:
0 nitrite
84 temp
0.25 ammonia
7 PH
not sure about nitrates

What should I do??? The fish look fine (they even spawned once) but some are starting to have frayed fins (even though that is probably due to the "fighting" going on). I will be adding new fish in about 6 weeks and am a bit worried about my bio filter. Any suggestions are very welcome!!!!!

Thanks,
Sophie

[Graham]

have tyou tried a different kit? . It's not much of a level and at that pH it is NH4, as you say. The Ammo Chips are a zeolite and it absorbs NH4, not NH3...so I'm really sure why the reading, but I wouldn't worry about it

G

[FishLover888]

Sometimes adding somthing like ammo lock will cause the false reading.

Here is what you do:

Treat the tap water in a small container as if you are going to add it into the fish tank and measure the ammo before and after the treatments in. You will know which one is causing the problem soon.

[sophie68]

have tyou tried a different kit? . It's not much of a level and at that pH it is NH4, as you say. The Ammo Chips are a zeolite and it absorbs NH4, not NH3...so I'm really sure why the reading, but I wouldn't worry about it

G

Hi Graham,
Thanks for your reply. Yes, I have tried 2 kits (AP and the Red Sea one) and I get the same result. It's mind boggling....I am going to try to not think about it too much and start feeding my poor starved fish again!

[sophie68]

Sometimes adding somthing like ammo lock will cause the false reading.

Here is what you do:

Treat the tap water in a small container as if you are going to add it into the fish tank and measure the ammo before and after the treatments in. You will know which one is causing the problem soon.

Thanks for your reply. Can ammo chips cause a false reading? I know that AMMO LOCK can...but I did not think that Ammo Chips could...I could be wrong.....I am gonna try what you said. Actually, I do have to say that the first night I used the Chips, I had a 0 ammonia reading in the morning but it went up again after that!!!!! I just do not understand that!!!!!

[Graham]

Zeolite does not affect ammonia test kit readings...think of it as a sponge and not a chemical in the water