Ammonia

[lovelive]

To start with
trits are at 0
ph is at 8
ammonia is at .5
I am having an ammonia problem and I have had a problem finding where its comming from. At first I thought something dead in my tank but wasnt missing anything and if that would be the case the ammonia would have gone down in the two months I have had a problem. I switched where I got my water and made sure there was no ammonia in it before I added it. But now I mixed some water for a water change and the water tested a 0 before I started and once I added salt the ammonia spiked. Has anyone had a problem with salt causing raised ammonia levels?

 

[atrain5851]

i would assume that your salt is the cause of the ammonia. What kind of salt are you using? Also where, when and what kind of rock did you put in the tank?

 

[lovelive]

I use instant ocean salt. I haven't added any new rock in about for about three months.

 

[btldreef]

When you mix your water/salt, do you use the same bucket?
You might want to wash it out and then rinse it with fresh RO. Make another bucket of saltwater and see if that does it. If it doesn't fix the problem, you may have a bad batch of salt.
What do you keep your salinity at?

 

[lovelive]

I first thought it was the water so i went from place to place and found water that didnt have any ammonia in it. I tested the water before i put it in the tub and left it in the tub over night then i tested it again before i added salt and then added the salt, left it over night again and tested it again and then the ammonia was there. I have just never heard of salt causing ammonia before.

 

[btldreef]

Originally Posted by lovelive
http:///forum/post/3213903
I first thought it was the water so i went from place to place and found water that didnt have any ammonia in it. I tested the water before i put it in the tub and left it in the tub over night then i tested it again before i added salt and then added the salt, left it over night again and tested it again and then the ammonia was there. I have just never heard of salt causing ammonia before.
Synthetic salt mixes actually do contain ammonia, a trace amount, but it's there. Check this out: http://saltaquarium.about.com/od/pla...Primary-El.htm
Anyways, you may want to wash out the tub in between each water change. If there's any residue in there it, you could get some ichy stuff trying to grow in there that dies off, producing algae.