whats normal PH....PH HIGH....ammonia, nitrate, nitrite

[MadameDesu]

Originally Posted by sainthogan

So what does she do in the event that there is high ammonia in her tap water and the conditioner is not lowering it to a safe level?

I wish I knew what to do about this myself :(
All I can think is that she can use a different water source, or if that's not possible, add a few drops of Prime water conditioner every few days because it's supposed to bind up ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate.

For my 3gal, I had to get water from the water fountain since that tested clean. I can't even begin to explain how annoying that was.

[resa]

i have purchased some prime .....i used 1ml for my ten gallon tank i used it about 2 hours ago and just did a test and the ammonia thus far is at 1.0 still...tomorrow i will do a water change....how much should i change again? i forgot...i also just read the book "how to care for a betta fish like an expert' by david chipperfield. my mother in law paid for it on her ipad on amazon kindle.... i dont think after having read his book that it would hurt to give my fish a 5 minute soak in some Epsom salt...i also didnt know there were over 50 types of bettas :)

[callistra]

Do not mess with ph.. all those ph up/down stuff are only temporary, with the end results being lots of swings. These swings can be lethal to fish, but they can adapt to almost any ph your tap water might have. As long as it's under 9, I wouldn't mess with it. If it's really really high (like mine.. bleh) you can cut it 50/50 with RO water (buy gallon jugs at grocery store). But if you do this it's EXTREMELY important you always use the same RO water and you measure/cut it EXACTLY the same every time to prevent ph fluctuations. I would be testing with every water change to be sure nothing went wrong.

To deal with tap ammonia, I've seen it mostly suggested to use prime - dose every 48 hours if you're not using a filter and of course then you are also doing your weekly 100% water change so the level never builds too high.

Are you saying your tap water has ammonia - that if you poured yourself a glass of water from your sink right now and tested it, there would be ammonia? Or your 10 gallon tank has ammonia? If it's in your tap you use prime and it should be removed by your filter (use carbon). If it's in your tank you need to increase your water changes. How long has this tank been set up? What fish are in it?

[resa]

Originally Posted by callistra

Do not mess with ph.. all those ph up/down stuff are only temporary, with the end results being lots of swings. These swings can be lethal to fish, but they can adapt to almost any ph your tap water might have. As long as it's under 9, I wouldn't mess with it. If it's really really high (like mine.. bleh) you can cut it 50/50 with RO water (buy gallon jugs at grocery store). But if you do this it's EXTREMELY important you always use the same RO water and you measure/cut it EXACTLY the same every time to prevent ph fluctuations. I would be testing with every water change to be sure nothing went wrong.

To deal with tap ammonia, I've seen it mostly suggested to use prime - dose every 48 hours if you're not using a filter and of course then you are also doing your weekly 100% water change so the level never builds too high.

Are you saying your tap water has ammonia - that if you poured yourself a glass of water from your sink right now and tested it, there would be ammonia? Or your 10 gallon tank has ammonia? If it's in your tap you use prime and it should be removed by your filter (use carbon). If it's in your tank you need to increase your water changes. How long has this tank been set up? What fish are in it?

tanks been set up about 2 weeks now. it came as a kit from walmart ....aqua tech 5-15 model filter and i use tap water yes, and i started using prime a few days ago.....and i only have a vt male betta in it now....i had neon tetras but 2 days after i got the i found 2 dead so i brought the rest back to the store....i'll use prime today too but do i need to do another water change even tho the ammonia in my tap water is high? i cant go get bottled water at this time....and do i need to use my top fin betta water conditioner (that obviously didnt help the first time using it) along with the prime when i do a water change?