I have a small amount of ammonia in my tap water. It reads on my tests less than .25

I am on well water and this concerns me.

Is this going to harm my fish? Should I use a product to get rid of the ammonia? I'm not a fan of putting extra chemicals in the tank...but if I have to I will.

Any input would be much appreciated!
Thanks!

Depending on your water temperature and pH, 0.25 may be totally harmless. Check out this ammonia toxicity chart by toothless.

http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/...showtopic=35322

The higher the pH and temp, the more toxic the ammonia. But take a look at the chart. Most likely unless your pH and/or temp is very high, an ammonia reading of 0.25 will be fine.

Make sense?

Or if you're not comfortable with that, use a water conditioner such as Prime and that will render that small amount of ammonia less toxic to your fish.

Thank you so much! According to the chart my ammonia is fine. What a neat chart!

I feel so much better now.

Thanks again fantailfan1! You are a lifesaver! (and so is Paul the creator of the chart!)

Glad it helped! It was very handy for me when I was treating my fish in a hospital tank without a filter and realized I didn't ahve to do 100% daily water changes but I could skip a day. Less work!

Actually, if you are running your tank on a nitrogen cycle - what we refer to as a "cycled" tank, the ammonia that the fish produce and the ammonia that comes in the water already as yours does, are all treated by the beneficial bacteria in the same fashion - it is all processed into nitrites and then into nitrates.

For example: In tank one, the fish produce 10 units of ammonia a day. It is processed into 5 units of nitrite every day and then into 2 units of nitrate (ficticious numbers). You would end up with 2 units of nitate.

In tank two, the fish produce 10 units of ammonia a day, but the water came with 10 units of ammonia also. It is processd into 10 units of nitrite and then into 4 units of nitrate.

The big thing is, though, it is PROCESSED. If you build a robust enough colony of beneficial bacteria in your filters, they can process the fish's waste as well as anything that comes in the water without problems. You will never even know that the excess ammonia is there - except that you will end up with a bit more nitrate in your tank each week than you would had you no extra ammonia.



As far as the charts of what ammonia is "ok" for a fish, yes, .25ppm ammonia is quite "harmless". But that is also like saying that a little bit of smog will not hurt you. This is true - but anyone with compromised health takes it harder. And some have difficulties no matter what. Add into that, a life spent in an environment that is never as clean and "healthy" as possible, will add up to a degree..... It is always worth it to figure out WHY you have readings of ammonia or nitrite in a tank, and to remedy it as best as possible.

I had a problem with ammonia in my tap water. It peaked above 1 ppm and made my fish very ill. I'd keep an eye out on your levels with every waterchange in case it fluctuates like mine.

I don't know if .25 ppm is dangerous, but it can't hurt to double your dosage of water conditioner(if it detoxifies ammonia).

I use 2.5x the normal dosage of Prime with my waterchanges and they haven't been sick since.

The small amount of ammonia in your well water might be relatively harmless to your fish, but it's not harmless to you and your family. I suggest you contact a local company and buy some sort of filter to improve the quality of your well water.