How to lower ammonia?

[Tobiassorensen]

Just because you don’t have any issues does it mean you’re not killing beneficial bacteria. But either way that’s bad practice because the one day you forget the dose your water conditioner before you start putting water in you’re definitely going to kill all your beneficial bacteria. Can you explain the reasoning behind leaving it all on are you worried that the fish can’t be without filtration for an hour. I have everything I need to shut off on a power strip I hit one button and everything turns off.

Ive never had any peoblems with clown loaches and large wc. I change 80% twice a week in all my tanks. And always keeping my filters on except the tanks i have sumps on. But then again we hardly have any chlorine or chloramine in our tapwater here in sweden. Some times a year i can read nitrate above 5ppm in the tap but nothing more then that. In the summertime the waterplants can use some chlorine but not much at all.

 

[duanes]

I also kept filters running during water changes when in the U.S, but I did use sodium thiosulfates, or calcium thiosulfate, as a dechlorinator, which reacts almost instantaneously.
There is also a theory, that suggests using chlorinated water during water changes weeds out some of the less robust, worn out bacteria, allowing for the healthiest to remain leaving room for more robust bacteria to recolonize filters. Check out the video below, Ted talks about using chlorinated water at about the 7 minute mark.
PreviewPreview11:06Filtration

 

[RD.]

Just because you don’t have any issues does it mean you’re not killing beneficial bacteria. But either way that’s bad practice because the one day you forget the dose your water conditioner before you start putting water in you’re definitely going to kill all your beneficial bacteria. Can you explain the reasoning behind leaving it all on are you worried that the fish can’t be without filtration for an hour. I have everything I need to shut off on a power strip I hit one button and everything turns off.

First off, most water conditioners react pretty much instantaneously with chlorine. With chloramine, which is what I have to treat for, products such as Prime and/or Safe also react pretty much instantaneously. I know this because I have tested many times over the years, using numerous water conditioning products. As I'm sure that duanes has. Duane also worked at a water treatment plant as a microbiologist, so his testing methods were probably a lot more advanced than mine.

By leaving the filters running ( I have 3 AC 110's on the 6 ft tanks that I currently have running) the mixing of water, and water conditioner, is mixed in a very swift and effective manner. No bacteria is killed in this process, at least not enough that it has ever registered with regards to water quality, free ammonia, etc. So perhaps some on rocks, wood, substrate, but my bio material in the filters, nothing, or next to it.

Also, if I forget to add water conditioner in my tanks, with 80-90% water change, and approx. 2 ppm chloramine, killing the bio-bacteria would be the least of my worries. Lots of years under my belt, and I have never forgot to add water conditioner, because where I live that would = dead fish.

 

[Tj203]

First off, most water conditioners react pretty much instantaneously with chlorine. With chloramine, which is what I have to treat for, products such as Prime and/or Safe also react pretty much instantaneously. I know this because I have tested many times over the years, using numerous water conditioning products. As I'm sure that duanes has. Duane also worked at a water treatment plant as a microbiologist, so his testing methods were probably a lot more advanced than mine.

By leaving the filters running ( I have 3 AC 110's on the 6 ft tanks that I currently have running) the mixing of water, and water conditioner, is mixed in a very swift and effective manner. No bacteria is killed in this process, at least not enough that it has ever registered with regards to water quality, free ammonia, etc. So perhaps some on rocks, wood, substrate, but my bio material in the filters, nothing, or next to it.

Also, if I forget to add water conditioner in my tanks, with 80-90% water change, and approx. 2 ppm chloramine, killing the bio-bacteria would be the least of my worries. Lots of years under my belt, and I have never forgot to add water conditioner, because where I live that would = dead fish.

So because you’ve been doing it for years you won’t forget that sound logic. Don’t get your medical card lol guess that’s why I have to shut mine up off lol Mixing The conditioner is a good idea I use a cross flow pump to do that.

 

[RD.]

Science always wins.

 

[pops]

catching this at the end, I turned all my pumps/filters off and always 90% or fin level on my tanks. what ever was most. this allowed me to use the tank water draining into a 5 gallon bucket to clean out my filter sponges and media, the 180, the 145, the 90 and the 75,s when running them. I put safe straight into the tanks after drained and filled the tanks. never had an issue. cleaned sponges, cleaned media, good vacuum, clean water best thing you can do for your fish, running Safe before filling (no mix needed) just dose and fill.

 

[Niki_up]

First off, most water conditioners react pretty much instantaneously with chlorine. With chloramine, which is what I have to treat for, products such as Prime and/or Safe also react pretty much instantaneously. I know this because I have tested many times over the years, using numerous water conditioning products. As I'm sure that duanes has. Duane also worked at a water treatment plant as a microbiologist, so his testing methods were probably a lot more advanced than mine.

By leaving the filters running ( I have 3 AC 110's on the 6 ft tanks that I currently have running) the mixing of water, and water conditioner, is mixed in a very swift and effective manner. No bacteria is killed in this process, at least not enough that it has ever registered with regards to water quality, free ammonia, etc. So perhaps some on rocks, wood, substrate, but my bio material in the filters, nothing, or next to it.

Also, if I forget to add water conditioner in my tanks, with 80-90% water change, and approx. 2 ppm chloramine, killing the bio-bacteria would be the least of my worries. Lots of years under my belt, and I have never forgot to add water conditioner, because where I live that would = dead fish.

I can agree to this...I live fairly close to RD and when I setup my first bigger back into fish keeping tank about 7 years ago I filled it up and was going to do a fish in cycle I filled the tank, and decorated it, plopped my yellow lab in and within seconds he convulsed and swam erratically and was dead in less than 2 mins. I’ve never forgotten to add prime first since then.

 

[tlindsey]

I also kept filters running during water changes when in the U.S, but I did use sodium thiosulfates, or calcium thiosulfate, as a dechlorinator, which reacts almost instantaneously.
There is also a theory, that suggests using chlorinated water during water changes weeds out some of the less robust, worn out bacteria, allowing for the healthiest to remain leaving room for more robust bacteria to recolonize filters. Check out the video below, Ted talks about using chlorinated water at about the 7 minute mark.
PreviewPreview11:06Filtration

Thanks for sharing Duane great info on sponge filtration. I personally will shake Ted Judy hand if I see him at the Ohio Cichlid Extravaganza this November.

 

[RD.]

I also kept filters running during water changes when in the U.S, but I did use sodium thiosulfates, or calcium thiosulfate, as a dechlorinator, which reacts almost instantaneously.
There is also a theory, that suggests using chlorinated water during water changes weeds out some of the less robust, worn out bacteria, allowing for the healthiest to remain leaving room for more robust bacteria to recolonize filters. Check out the video below, Ted talks about using chlorinated water at about the 7 minute mark.
PreviewPreview11:06Filtration

Personally I think that's some really sloppy advice being given by Ted. Disinfectant residuals vary greatly in North America, and while rinsing under the tap may work fine for Ted, it could result in disaster for someone that lives in an area with a high residual of chlorine, or worse, chloramine. The EPA max limit in the US is 3 ppm, but I have seen actual readings from various municipalities as high as 4 ppm. (chloramine) Try rinsing under a tap with those levels, and see what happens.

As an example, I don't know exactly where Ted lives, but he lives (or used to?) near Madison WI, where as stated off of their 2018 water report, the typical chlorine residual is 0.2 to 0.4 ppm.

The high quality aquifer supplying our drinking water requires little treatment. Madison Water Utility disinfects the water with chlorine to reduce the risk of microbial contamination. A small amount of chlorine kills bacteria and viruses that can be present in groundwater. Chlorine also travels with the water and is ready to kill microbes that it might encounter in the system. Our goal is to maintain a chlorine residual above 0.1 milligrams per liter (mg/L) at all points in the distribution system. Typical concentrations range from 0.2 to 0.4 mg/L.

0.2 to 0.4 is a joke, most of the chlorine would be gone before the water reached the sponge that Ted was cleaning. lol I can tell you first hand what happens when you rinse sponges in 2 ppm chloramine, most of the bio-bacteria ends up like Niki's fish - DEAD.

This is exactly why I hate it when people generalize about water, and bacteria, as though one size fits all.
It clearly doesn't. Ted should know better ...….

 

[esoxlucius]

Personally I think that's some really sloppy advice being given by Ted. Disinfectant residuals vary greatly in North America, and while rinsing under the tap may work fine for Ted, it could result in disaster for someone that lives in an area with a high residual of chlorine, or worse, chloramine. The EPA max limit in the US is 3 ppm, but I have seen actual readings from various municipalities as high as 4 ppm. (chloramine) Try rinsing under a tap with those levels, and see what happens.

As an example, I don't know exactly where Ted lives, but he lives (or used to?) near Madison WI, where as stated off of their 2018 water report, the typical chlorine residual is 0.2 to 0.4 ppm.

The high quality aquifer supplying our drinking water requires little treatment. Madison Water Utility disinfects the water with chlorine to reduce the risk of microbial contamination. A small amount of chlorine kills bacteria and viruses that can be present in groundwater. Chlorine also travels with the water and is ready to kill microbes that it might encounter in the system. Our goal is to maintain a chlorine residual above 0.1 milligrams per liter (mg/L) at all points in the distribution system. Typical concentrations range from 0.2 to 0.4 mg/L.

0.2 to 0.4 is a joke, most of the chlorine would be gone before the water reached the sponge that Ted was cleaning. lol I can tell you first hand what happens when you rinse sponges in 2 ppm chloramine, most of the bio-bacteria ends up like Niki's fish - DEAD.

This is exactly why I hate it when people generalize about water, and bacteria, as though one size fits all.
It clearly doesn't. Ted should know better ...….

Whatever you do RD, don't go to the Ohio cichlid extravaganza in November! I can just picture Tom shaking his hand and then you ringing his neck!!