Is this your typical algae?

bentz69

I did a 50% water change today and cleaned the rocks, plant and decor. Tested the water again and ammonia was at .25, nitrites 0, nitrates 20. Then I did another 50% water change and tested about an hour later. Ammonia .25, nitrites 0, nitrates 10.

Cant seem to get his ammonia to 0 right now but the algae looks a lot better. Ill give it some more time and do more frequent water changes

BarbH

Have you tested your tap water, or what you are using as your water source for ammonia? It is not unusual for people to have ammonia, nitrites or nitrates in their tap water. If you do have ammonia in your tap water then you can use a conditioner like Prime from Seachem when you do your water changes. Also what is your ph level? If your ph is low enough the ammonia will turn into ammonium which is harmless to fish. Most test kits measure total ammonia, the ammonia and ammonium and does not distinguish between the two.

bentz69

Im using tap water. I just tested my tap water and the color did not look fully yellow. I would have to say between 0 and .25. My ph has always been 7.4 - 7.6.

BarbH

I know that when testing the tap water for ph it is recommended to let the water sit over night and then test, not sure if that would make any difference in testing for ammonia. It sounds like you may have some ammonia in the tap water. Idealy the plants in your tank should take up the ammonia in the water, floating plants are especially good for this. At a ph above 7 the ammonia will stay ammonia, below 7 it will turn to ammonium. What are you using for your water conditioner? Some water conditioners will also detoxify ammonia and nitrites in the water, Prime is one of them Amquel plus is another. I believe I have seen another one mentioned here in the forums that will also.

bentz69

I use Aqueon Water Conditioner. Description says it detoxifies ammonia, metals etc
Aqueon Water Conditioner - Fish - Sale Category - PetSmart

BarbH

If it detoxifies the ammonia by making it into ammonium you should be fine. Most products will do this for only a few days and then the ammonium can change back to ammonia. In a cycled tank especially with plants this should not be a problem and should be handled by the plants and the benificial bacteria in the tank. Someone can correct me if I am wrong on this. The reading that you are getting on your test kit for ammonia, I am guessing is actually reading ammonium in the water. I would keep an eye on the fish for any signs of ammonia posioning, but otherwise you should be fine with testing the water parameters before you carry out your weekly water change.

Byron

I concur with everything Barb has mentioned. Continue with the 50% weekly water changes and you'll be fine.

bentz69

I had to get 3 fish out of the tank today and I needed to remove about 50% of the water to get them out. So I changed another 50% of the water of today. So over the past 3 days I changed about 87% of the water. Water test results today - ph 7.6, ammn .25, NI 0, NA 5-10

The water conditioner that Im using is from aqueon and I add it to the fresh water before going into the tank. Is Prime the same type of product (add to new water or tank directly)? Are there any products that I can add to the tank directly to bring the ammonia to zero?

brokenrules69

i had that all over my new tank i used a gravel cleaner to suck most of it that stirred it up enough for the filter to get the rest

BarbH

Prime will act in the same way, you can either add it directly to the tank before you put the new water in or you can add it to the water in the buckets before you pour it in the tank. Prime is a dechlorinator along with what it does for ammonia and nitrites. With ammonia it turns it into ammonium and keeps it in this form for I believe two to three days. With most test kits they will read the overall ammonia, both ammonia and ammonium and are unable to tell the difference between the two. The plants also will take up the ammonia, adding some more plants will help. Floating plants would be good and some of them will take up ammonia very quickly like Duckweed.