Seahorse

I got the most recent water report (2020) from the City. In downtown / Midtown there is chloramine in the water while suburbs and most other areas have chlorine and the levels of each vary around town. Out of the tap, my water tested 1.0-1.5 ammonia, 0 nitrites, 10 nitrates and 7.6 pH. Everything but the ammonia level was OK. I couldn't get the ammonia level down even with water changes until I switched to bottled water. Oh well, eventually I'll figure it out. Have a good night.

Thank you. I just have fancy (mutt) guppies, nothing high class or delicate and I haven't lost any fish since the freeze but I'm worried about the ammonia level and then of course people said oh my pH is too low using bottled (Kroger drinking) water which has a pH of 6.0 to 6.4...which led to recommendations to add crushed coral to raise pH, GH and KH. I've only added it to my fishless tanks just to see how it turned out and yes, it did raise pH overnight. I do know that guppies like a higher pH and I buy most of my fish at 360 Aquatics and they have hard water. If I can get back to using tap water and fight the high ammonia levels I won'thave to worry about pH. According to the report I got from Public Works, our tap water averages around 7.0. I feel certain the ammonia in my tank with fish is detoxified because they are doing fine even with an algae bloom. I'm just trying to get my other two tanks aligned so I can add fish to them. I'll look into getting some live plants and see if that helps. Thanks again for the advice.

OK, I can look at adding live plants. During the Texas freeze, pipes broke everywhere, pump stations went off line and we were forced to boil water for days. The City dumped all kinds of chemicals in the water system to purify it and from what little they will reveal, chlorine / chloramine levels were really raised and my testing reflected a sudden rise in ammonia content of the water. Yes, I know about Prime, have used gallons of it and know that it detoxifies ammonia for ~48 hours. Yes, bottled water is expensive but it is ammonia free. It also has a very low pH and I'm playing with crushed coral in the two fish-free tanks. There are multiple fish groups in Houston and I am in several FB fish groups. Many local fish stores and fishkeepers lost all their fish when we lost power for days and their fish froze so my problems are not unique. I didn't lose power so didn't lose any fish but I have to deal with the water issues too. My participation in this thread started when I posted that I have dealt with green water by covering the tank for several days until it cleared...that's what I'm doing...but then we digressed to my phosphate level and I said I was tired of testing, that fixing one problem just led to another problem. So.....fishkeeping USED to be simple and fun, that's why I restarted during the pandemic stay at home orders.

Thanks for the encouragement. My tanks were cycled and full of healthy fish having babies (guppies) prior to the Texas freeze, then the tap water went to h__l in a handbasket and I switched to bottled water which lost the pH so I'm trying crushed coral to get that back but it's just one thing after another.

Thanks Cindy. I have a gravel substrate which makes growing plants difficult according to what I've heard. I've tried some floating plants and they didn't do well so I went back to silk plants which are so much easier to keep 🙂 My "main tank is just a 20 gallon with 6 male guppies in it. I have an empty 10 gal for females, no one in Houston seems to have female guppies these days, and an empty 5 gal quarantine tank. I'm playing with crushed coral in the 5 and 10 to raise the pH from ~6 to at least 7.4 so I'll see how that goes. My tap water is full of chloramine (ammonia tests 1+ out of the tap) so I struggle to keep that under control. Just so many issues that didn't exist 20 years ago when I had my last tank. Thanks for your advice and help.

Thank you for understanding. Mine is not a planted tank, I have enough trouble keeping fish (just fancy guppies, mostly mutts) alive I didn't want to add plants to my failure list. My tap water is full of chloramine so my ammonia levels are really high out of the tap (1.0+) and my pH is in the 6 range. The fish (fancy guppy mutts) don't seem to care that their water is green

I know, it's just that when you start trying to adjust one parameter, it screws up another and fixing that causes other problems. Fishkeeping used to be so enjoyable, now it's more an exercise in frustration and a money pit.

I don't know. I test ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, GH and KH. I am sick of testing. I have just covered the tank and will wait it out.

I would think people with heavily planted tanks would know that. How do you suggest people determine the cause of green algae if it isn't too much light? If parameters are A=0, Ni=0 and Na=20 where else would they look for a cause?

I've had the same problem, covered the tank for 3-4 days, no light at all. Removed cover to feed and recovered. It cleared everything except a few traces on the white gravel. Algae needs light to grow, take that away and the algae will go away.

Thanks Tony, I think I have enough info to get started or get things back on track. I appreciate your help and the advice and suggestions of others. Thanks guys!

Yep, I think Tony has nailed it. Great group here, wish I had found you sooner!

Isaac, if you read the prior posts you'll see I've done all you're suggesting. Two fish in the tank died and both had ammonia burns on their gills so I'm pretty sure ammonia is there, don't know how much but enough to kill 2 fish that were in it when it spiked.

I just have white gravel from a chain store and it's in both tanks. I was told early on not to chase pH or KH, etc. that keeping it stable was more important than a specific number. fish will adjust, or soI'm told. After the winter storm in Texas, Houston dumped all kinds of stuff in out city water, that's when I switched to bottled water. I live in a high rise building and they add a water softener to our water so.....

Thanks Tony, that's very helpful. Where would I find Aragonite? I don't recall seeing it by that name in my LFS. Is there a brand for it? I've tested GH and KH and I have very soft water but that's testing the RO water. I need to check the spring water.