Have a question about Ammonia/Top offs

Coffman34 · 02/14/2007, 04:52 AM

I was wondering. Until I get a RO/DI unit in my apartment, I plan on using tap water with water conditioner. But the way I read it is that the water conditioner just binds to the chlorine/chloramine and then the byproduct is ammonia. My question is, if I'm doing a top off, or water change, won't this be very bad?

Just some info. I just started my tank yesterday. I don't plan on getting a fish or corals or inverts or anything other than LR anytime soon. Probably around 2-3 months. Going to take it slow, and make sure what I do is right.

Now will this ammonia hurt me during my first cycle? Or will it kinda help considering it will give the bacteria something to chew on until I can get some bio load in there to sustain the bacteria so that they don't wipe. Or will the LR be enough to sustain the bacteria? Just a note also. When I filled my tank for the second time yesterday (Got in a rush, didn't clean substrate good enough, it was bad cloudy, but water change/substrate rinse helped ALOT!) and I tested the Ammonia after about 1 hour of having the water conditioner in it, it tested 8.0 on my test kit. Is this norm because of what was stated above? Or should I have cause for concern?

Coffman34 · 02/14/2007, 05:31 AM

I was also wondering, since this is my first cycle, should I turn the skimmer on, or should it stay off until the cycle is complete?

naterealbig · 02/14/2007, 05:37 AM

That doesn't sound right. Common sense would tell you that if a company was making a water conditioner, they wouldn't replace on toxin for another - especially if it was for aquarium use. I have done no research on this, but again, a common sense approach.

My brother has a 55g FOWLR, and uses a water conditioner from walmart. He has never had any problems with ammonia after his 'cycling' was complete. I would have to assume that you could do the same thing with no problem.

The fact that you are reading 8ppm ammonia right now is definately not supporting my theory however. Couple of questions - Did you use the conditioner on the tap water you used to fill the tank the 2nd time? Is there LR in the tank now? If so, how did you get it? Is the sand that you put in your aquarium live sand? What brand of test kit are you using?

An easy way to see if your water conditioner is adding ammonia to your water would be to test your tap for ammonia, and then test again after you add the conditioner. This will tell you if the ammonia is coming from the water changes, and if its caused by your water conditioner.

hth

naterealbig · 02/14/2007, 05:40 AM

Some would tell you no, some would tell you yes. Personally, I would run the skimmer all day, cycle or no cycle. I think that by running a skimmer you would reduce the amount of dissolved organics, which will help reduce the ammonia spike during the cycle, which will kill less flora/fauna on the LR, which will help reduce the ammonia spike, which will.........you get the point.

Coffman34 · 02/14/2007, 08:02 AM

Thanks for all the replies. From my understanding from reading here on the forums, when chlorine or chloramine is broken down by the water conditioner, the conditioner binds to the chlorine molecules the resulting molecule that is not binded is an ammonia molecule. I could be wrong though.
Yes I did use conditioner on the second fill, because I drained pretty much all of the previous water. There is one LR in there now, a 3lb. one. I got it from a LFS Atlantis Aquatic Gardens here in Indiana, there is also Inland Aquatics, but they were closed when I went to pick up some from them so I went to the other store. I believe it is LS. It is SeaChem aragonite from PETsMART. It was black in the bag. really really dirty, like I said, had to do a second rinse. I am using the SeaChem test kit I believe it was. Not for sure. I'm at work right now. I will do the tap water test as soon as I return home in 24 hours.

Thanks for the suggestion on running the skimmer. I think I'm going to go ahead and start it up when I get home. Especially since my ammonia is up there already, and it was a fresh fill.

Coffman

02/14/2007, 04:52 AM	#1
Coffman34 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 222	Have a question about Ammonia/Top offs I was wondering. Until I get a RO/DI unit in my apartment, I plan on using tap water with water conditioner. But the way I read it is that the water conditioner just binds to the chlorine/chloramine and then the byproduct is ammonia. My question is, if I'm doing a top off, or water change, won't this be very bad? Just some info. I just started my tank yesterday. I don't plan on getting a fish or corals or inverts or anything other than LR anytime soon. Probably around 2-3 months. Going to take it slow, and make sure what I do is right. Now will this ammonia hurt me during my first cycle? Or will it kinda help considering it will give the bacteria something to chew on until I can get some bio load in there to sustain the bacteria so that they don't wipe. Or will the LR be enough to sustain the bacteria? Just a note also. When I filled my tank for the second time yesterday (Got in a rush, didn't clean substrate good enough, it was bad cloudy, but water change/substrate rinse helped ALOT!) and I tested the Ammonia after about 1 hour of having the water conditioner in it, it tested 8.0 on my test kit. Is this norm because of what was stated above? Or should I have cause for concern?

02/14/2007, 05:31 AM	#2
Coffman34 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 222	Also I was also wondering, since this is my first cycle, should I turn the skimmer on, or should it stay off until the cycle is complete?

02/14/2007, 05:37 AM	#3
naterealbig Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,252	That doesn't sound right. Common sense would tell you that if a company was making a water conditioner, they wouldn't replace on toxin for another - especially if it was for aquarium use. I have done no research on this, but again, a common sense approach. My brother has a 55g FOWLR, and uses a water conditioner from walmart. He has never had any problems with ammonia after his 'cycling' was complete. I would have to assume that you could do the same thing with no problem. The fact that you are reading 8ppm ammonia right now is definately not supporting my theory however. Couple of questions - Did you use the conditioner on the tap water you used to fill the tank the 2nd time? Is there LR in the tank now? If so, how did you get it? Is the sand that you put in your aquarium live sand? What brand of test kit are you using? An easy way to see if your water conditioner is adding ammonia to your water would be to test your tap for ammonia, and then test again after you add the conditioner. This will tell you if the ammonia is coming from the water changes, and if its caused by your water conditioner. hth __________________ My skimmate has notes of saffron, and a hint of lilac.

02/14/2007, 05:40 AM	#4
naterealbig Premium Member Join Date: Sep 2006 Location: Tampa, FL Posts: 2,252	Some would tell you no, some would tell you yes. Personally, I would run the skimmer all day, cycle or no cycle. I think that by running a skimmer you would reduce the amount of dissolved organics, which will help reduce the ammonia spike during the cycle, which will kill less flora/fauna on the LR, which will help reduce the ammonia spike, which will.........you get the point. __________________ My skimmate has notes of saffron, and a hint of lilac.

02/14/2007, 08:02 AM	#5
Coffman34 Registered Member Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Indiana Posts: 222	Thanks for all the replies. From my understanding from reading here on the forums, when chlorine or chloramine is broken down by the water conditioner, the conditioner binds to the chlorine molecules the resulting molecule that is not binded is an ammonia molecule. I could be wrong though. Yes I did use conditioner on the second fill, because I drained pretty much all of the previous water. There is one LR in there now, a 3lb. one. I got it from a LFS Atlantis Aquatic Gardens here in Indiana, there is also Inland Aquatics, but they were closed when I went to pick up some from them so I went to the other store. I believe it is LS. It is SeaChem aragonite from PETsMART. It was black in the bag. really really dirty, like I said, had to do a second rinse. I am using the SeaChem test kit I believe it was. Not for sure. I'm at work right now. I will do the tap water test as soon as I return home in 24 hours. Thanks for the suggestion on running the skimmer. I think I'm going to go ahead and start it up when I get home. Especially since my ammonia is up there already, and it was a fresh fill. Coffman