Ammonia Calculator

Hi all

I have been having ammonia problems and changed water several times but it's not getting rid of it.

Looking through previous post about ammonia, I saw a post about the Ammonia Calculator.
I used it and with ammonia a 2 PPM, PH at 6.5 and 77 degrees temperature, it calculates I have 0.0037 toxic ammonia so shouldn't have anything to worry about.

Is this right?

http://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php

I agree. The ideal is zero. I regard ammonium as less toxic than ammonia rather than non toxic.
But if you keep the ammonia level in that calculator below 0.02, there is not enough in the ammonia form to cause lasting damage.

My tank has been running for a month with no readings for anything other than Nitrates, which are hovering between 10-20 ppm with 6 tetras, soon to be 10 tetras, as with anything alive the bacteria grow at their own rate, as Sue will tell you commercial bacteria boosters/filter starters are almost always pointless.
What are your 5 fish? In a 175l tank it would take a while for any bacteria to grow, it may be just a waiting game.
It does sound stupid but you are dechlorinating the water for water changes? Are you cleaning the filter medium (sponges, ceramics etc)?

I use Stress Coat when I change water and usually add a bit more than dosage. This is what the Aquatics shop recomends. Is there something better?
I've found a lot of what the guy in there told me has been wrong a few times. So I'm looking for a different one.
He told me not to change water if ammonia gets high because this will break the cycle. Is this right.
I've read some post about testing and hold it against the colour chart.
I'm using API ammonia test drops.

A lot of shop workers also seem convinced that doing water changes will remove a lot of the bacteria. They don't seem to realise the bacteria we want don't live in the water column, they live in the biofilm which coats every surface in the tank (the bacteria grow everywhere, just more of them in the filter because they like the conditions in there). It is very difficult to remove these bacteria by doing water changes. As long as you remove the chlorine or chloramine in your tapwater the bacteria will be unaffected.

Stress coat is fine to use as a dechlorinator. If you want something cheaper, look at Seachem Prime or API Tap Water Conditioner. They are very concentrated, and a bottle goes a long way. You may have to buy them on-line, and Amazon & eBay don't sell Prime because Seachem won't let them.
Prime does detoxify ammonia while the API one doesn't - but the effect of the detoxification only lasts 24 hours or so anyway. On the other hand, Prime contains a lot of stuff besides the chemicals that remove chlorine and metals; the API one contains only those things.
With any dechlorinator, dosing up to one and a half times the dose rate on the bottle is OK; I wouldn't go much more than that.

Some of these 'bacteria in a bottle' products do contain ammonia. I think the idea is that they contain both ammonia and bacteria; you add them before fish and the ammonia feeds the bacteria so they colonise the filter so fast you can add fish a couple of days later. Only not many of them actually work.
Don't believe everything the guy at the shop says. I once overheard a shop worker telling a customer he could add this bottled bacteria and at the same time he must add a tankful of fish or the product wouldn't work. When I got home, I googled the product, found the manufacturer's website and it said that the tank must be stocked slowly, starting with only a few fish. So much for getting a whole tankful straight away!


As for water changes, if your ammonia and/or nitrite are high, you can do a 90% water change every day if that's what is needed to keep the levels low. Provided the new water is dechlorinated and at the same temp as the tank water, huge water changes are better for the fish than swimming in toxic water. Yes, the water changes are stressful for them, but not doing the water changes is worse.

You don't need to change 90% unless your ammonia/nitrite are very high. Only as much as needed to keep them below the danger point. Some people, who get a lot of fish for an uncycled tank, find their levels get very high, very quickly. They are the ones who need 90% water changes.
You already have the calculator for ammonia - keep that below 0.02 ammonia, as opposed to the tester level which is combined ammonia and ammonium.
Nitrite must be kept below 0.25ppm, using the level as measured by the test kit. The is no less-toxic form of nitrite, it is all bad for the fish.

You only need change as much water as will keep the levels below those danger points.