Tropical Fish Forum
Tropical Fish Keeping Help and Advice => New Fishkeepers => Topic started by: Lynne W on February 06, 2018, 07:29:28 PM
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Hiya, I've been monitoring the ammonia for the last few days and it's been OK but tonight I'm struggling to decide if the colour in now more of the greeny colour, the second colour on the chart, or if it's OK, but if in doubt should I do a water change anyway? Would I be of with change 50 litres in a 250 litre tank or do I need to take more out?
Also are there any test kit where the colours between OK and not are more distinct?
Appreciate any advice, beginning to get paranoid with shades of yellowy green :vcross:
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I think all the home testing kits use the salicylate test, so they have the same colour change. The yellow of 0 and the greenish tinge of 0.25 can be very hard to distinguish. The light it is read under can affect the apparent colour with fluorescent lights (tubes or compact fluorescent bulbs) being the worst for this.
Ammonia exists in 2 forms in water - toxic ammonia and less toxic ammonium. The amount that it is each form depends on both pH and temperature. Luckily there are on-line calculators to work it out for you.
https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php
In the left box, set salinity to zero, then enter your readings for ammonia and pH, and the tank temp, then click calculate. You want the number in the bottom box on the right hand side. I would use 0.25 for ammonia, as you can't decide between 0 and 0.25.
As long as that number is below 0.02, the fish are safe. Especially as your ammonia reading is not right on the 0.25 green.
But whenever that number from the calculator goes over 0.02, do a water change.
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Excellent I'll do that now. Thanks again :D
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0.0058 :cheers:
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I would check my tap water as well, some company's put ammonium in there water but which will show up on a ammonia test, if you have that its nearly impossible to get a 0 reading, because every time you do a water change you will be adding ammonium.
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The ammonia in tap water usually comes from chloramine. Some water companies use this instead of chlorine to disinfect the mains water. Chloramine is an ammonia and a chlorine joined together; our dechlorinators split it up to chlorine and ammonia then remove the chlorine part leaving the ammonia part still in the water. This is why so many dechlorinators also contain something to detoxify ammonia albeit temporarily, but by the time this ammonia becomes toxic again, the filter bacteria have already 'eaten' it.
I can't remember whether our ammonia test kits detect the ammonia half of chloramine though :-[