Ammonia in tap water??

brians

brians

Member
I tested my tapwater for ammonia to get a comparison to my tank water. My tank, which has been up for about a month, was originally filled with tap water and I haven't done any water changes yet. Here is a picture of my test results. On the left is my tank water and on the right is my tap water.

The colors on my camera aren't that great but the tank water (left) is reading close to 0.50 and it is cloudy. The tap water is definitly very green but it is clear. What do you guys think??? :confused:
I was going to do a water change with tap water for now because I don't have time to go to the store. But I'm really confused now.
 
brians

brians

Member
treated city water
I think my ammonia is up because I just added a Scooter Blenny a couple days ago and I think I may have been overfeeding recently. That is why I wanted to do a partial water change.
 
cprdnick

cprdnick

Active Member
personally I would stay away from tap water. What your tap water is reading is what mine reads. If you get the right kind of tap water conditioner it will drown those levels out, but running activated carbon is what you would do about that. In my opinion I wouldn't do a water change until you can get the right kind of water to do it with, you may be pretty surprised to see what kind of crap can happen to your tank when you add those kinds of impurities to your established tank.
 
brians

brians

Member
I just rechecked the color of my tank water and I think it is actually between 0.0-0.25 not 0.50. This is why I tested my tap water. I can't really tell the color on this Aquarium Pharmaceuticals test kit.
 
kreach

kreach

Active Member

Originally posted by cprdnick
In my opinion I wouldn't do a water change until you can get the right kind of water to do it with, you may be pretty surprised to see what kind of crap can happen to your tank when you add those kinds of impurities to your established tank.
Agreed
 
tagg

tagg

Member
I again may be wrong, but I don't think there should be any measureable amounts of ammonia in city water. By chance have you checked to see if the tap water has any nitrAtes?
Tagg____
 
tagg

tagg

Member
Hmm...
I live in the country (well water)(no nothing in my water)(pH neutral also)
I just hope a chemist jumps in here. I think you must be getting a false reading from other "gunk" that they put in the water. IMO
I wouldn't think ammonia would be good for a person. ?
I know ammonia (liquid) is corussive.
I have read the MSDS sheets on things that contain ammonia.
I have been poisened to the point of bleeding from ammonia.
But I think that kind of ammonia is of a different structure.
Tagg be gagged.
 
karajay

karajay

Active Member

Originally posted by Tagg
I again may be wrong, but I don't think there should be any measureable amounts of ammonia in city water.

City water is frequently treated with chloramine (particularly after it rains), which will show up as ammonia on your test. Same thing happened to me in my old tank. Tap is not a good idea, but if you must use it , be sure to treat your water with something that will neutralize chlorine as well as chloramine.
 
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