Ammonia in my tap water!

[JLovesBettas]

So after so after trying to diagnose my Betta over and over I finally have found the source. When I tested my tap water(not in the fishes tank) it has a bit more then 1ppm of ammonia. My Betta's tail has started to wear apart and his belly gets swollen when I do water changes. My tank isn't cycled either since I barely just got him and I am struggling with getting it started. I tried prime and it helps a bit but he keeps losing more and more of his fins. What do I do? Should I give up and try again, or can this be fixed?

[JLovesBettas]

Sorry didn't know about this.

What size is your tank? 5 gallons
What temperature is your tank? 76 Degrees Fahrenheit
Does your tank have a filter? Yes
Does your tank have an air stone or other type of aeration? no
Is your tank heated? Yes
What tank mates does your betta fish live with? none

What type of food do you feed your betta fish? I switch of between pellet food and freeze dried blood worms.
How often do you feed your betta fish? Once everyday or every other day since he also has constipation.

How often do you perform a water change?Change everyday or every other day because I am trying to get the cycle started.
What percentage of the water do you change when you perform a water change?50%
What type of additives do you add to the water when you perform a water change?Prime


Ammonia:about 1-.5 ppm
Nitrite:0
Nitrate:0
pH:6.6

How has your betta fish's appearance changed? yes
How has your betta fish's behavior changed? He is lazy alot and he freacks out at anything. Sometimes he will just float on top of the tank.
When did you start noticing the symptoms? About 2 weeks ago, I have been trying to treat it ever since.
Have you started treating your fish? If so, how? I tried to treat it but nothing worked.
Does your fish have any history of being ill? No I just got him.
How old is your fish (approximately)? 4 months

[Welsh]

From my knowledge, prime works best in a cycled tank

[small fry]

I have ammonia in my tap, someone suggested adding prime to the water I was adding. I guess that is what is being suggested here?

[JLovesBettas]

Thanks but I am putting prime in. So I don't know if maybe it is something else hurting him or what?

[Welsh]

You say his fins seem to be wearing away?? Do you have any sharp ornaments or plastic plants in his tanks??

[JLovesBettas]

No I took everything out because I thought that was it.

[Oldfishlady]

What kind of testing product are you using? with prime and most of the products that cover ammonia it will change the ammonia to ammonium and the test product can not tell the difference....ammonium is a harmless form of ammonia

Are you sure he is not tail biting and can you post a pic?
Other than the tail-how is he acting?

Adding live plants can also help-either stem or floating

What are your other numbers for nitrite, nitrate, pH on both the tank and source water

[JLovesBettas]

I am using API Freshwater.
I am almost positive he is not tail biting.
pH is really high in my tap water but not in my tank. On the top is all the info for my tank.
I will try to take a picture tomorrow. My camera died.

[celine18]

Originally Posted by Oldfishlady

Adding live plants can also help-either stem or floating

you beat me to it!!! lol i also have a bit of ammonia, but just about .5 ppm. i'd sujest throwing in some live plants, they'll suck up ammonia and help ease the cycle. wisteria's really good, mine grows very well. you could also go to petsmart and get a TON of hornwort for very cheap, and thats a real good nutrient sucker.

does his tail seem to be dissappearing at a steady rate? like a fairly straight line? when my guy bites he bites it to strings, then bites the strings off so it's a straight line (he's actually bit his tail into the shape of a sword tail fish, it's so cute )