Ammonia Problem

[neekis]

Stats:

1.5 gal tank (upgrading to 10-15 gal within 2 months)
No filter
1 live plant
Mini Heater (water gets too 72)
1 male betta (Neekis) had him for 2 weeks
50% water change every 2-3 days

Just found out that my tap water has ammonia in it. (I had just done a 100% water change and tested it.) My tap water reads between .25 and .50ppm. I've tested my softened water, my hard water and my charcoal filtered water. All is the same. After I put the Tetra BettaSafe water conditioner, it's still the same. Nitrates and Nitrites are fine.

I picked up some bottled water (Ice Mtn Natual Spring) and there is no ammonia in it. But...the ph is between 6.0 and 6.4. Currently, Neekis is in about 7.5 ph. So I don't think I should use the bottled water either.

Bought some Tetra AmmoniaSafe, but after adding it to the water (premixed...not in the tank), it didn't seem to change the ammonia...in fact, it went higher. I did multiple tests, adding 3-4 drops of the AmmoniaSafe each time. I may continue to test, but this is driving me nuts!!!

Does anyone have any ideas of what I can do? I really would like a quick response, because I don't want Neekis to become ill. My 3 yr old would be CRUSHED!

Thank you sooo much in advance!

[dramaqueen]

I would switch to Prime water conditioner. My tap water has ammonia in it, too. The ammonia goes to 0 after using Prime.

[neekis]

Yep - that's the same thing oldfishlady suggested. I guess I'm running back to the pet store...have to wait until my 3 yr old wakes up.

thanks!

PS - can't wait to get that bigger tank...I'm going to have to start researching now! :)

[doubleatheman]

Originally Posted by neekis

Yep - that's the same thing oldfishlady suggested. I guess I'm running back to the pet store...have to wait until my 3 yr old wakes up.

thanks!

PS - can't wait to get that bigger tank...I'm going to have to start researching now! :)

What size you thinking about?

[neekis]

Originally Posted by doubleatheman

What size you thinking about?

I'm thinking about either a 5 or 10 gal. I think if I get a 5, I will end up wanting a 10 so it will most likely be a 10.

It's a pretty funny story on how I got the 1.5 gal. My 3 yr old son, Freddy, saw Dad's minnows for ice fishing two weekends ago. So when Dad went fishing, we went to Petco to buy a fish....unfortunately he saw the "Nemo" fish tank and that was that. Of course, I knew nothing about betta's at the time and the guy at Petco said 1.5 gal is fine. Thanks to this forum, i am getting VERY knowledgable.

[doubleatheman]

Those Nemo tanks and young kids.... seems to be a life or death matter if they cant get them lol.

Petco had a nice 10 gallon starter setup for $48, walmart has one for like $47 too.

Your Betta will be very happy you did your research! :)

[neekis]

Yep - I saw the Petco starter setup too. I think I will get mine there. I will get an extra discount on top of that because I signed up for the "Pals" program!

[neekis]

How long can I keep premixed water? And, what's the best way to heat up the water when I'm ready to use it?

I picked up the Prime today and it says 1 capful for 50 gal. So that's about 1 drop per half gal. I do a 50% water change every 2-3 days. So I definitely would like to premix, especially because it's not a good bottle for getting "drops" out of...

Any suggestions would be great! Thanks again!

[neekis]

Originally Posted by doubleatheman

Those Nemo tanks and young kids.... seems to be a life or death matter if they cant get them lol.

Oh yeah...it's all about deciding what you want to deal with...a Nemo tank or a tantrum in public!

[Oldfishlady]

Kids can train their parents pretty good...I know mine did me...lol....

As far as pre-mixing water and prime and shelf life, not really sure, I keep premixed water and salt/oak leaves in a 1gal jug when I am treating for a day or so, week at the longest, I have had my unused mixes sour on me before....
One thing about the dechlorinators is that overdose is hard when in small amounts, get an eye dropper, but I bet you are doing that already...lol....

I mix my hot and cold at the tap and have not had a problem due to having PVC pipe and hot water heater under 10yr old, but warming a premix jug of water you can fill your sink with hot water and set the jug in it, shake and check temp,
I have/use one of those digital kitchen theomometers to get instant checks, I paid under 5 buck for it at walmart and I only use it for fish related water temps