Ammonia Source?

[Cinnebuns]

I haven't been feeding nearly as much as I usually do and didn't feed at all yesterday because I'm getting over covid. I tested yesterday and both tanks had 0 ammonia. This is 2 diff tanks tested today. Where did this come from?  Literally haven't changed anything. Ideas?

 

Also, am I better off doing a water change or just dosing prime?

Edited January 31, 2022 by Cinnebuns

[JettsPapa]

It might be okay, but I'd never recommend dosing with anything instead of a water change.  To me the one on the left looks like 0.25 ppm and the one on the right looks like 0.50 ppm.

I'd say the one on the left is okay for now.  The one on the right could probably wait too, but I think I'd do one anyway to keep it from getting any higher.

[KittenFishMom]

I am a newbie, so keep that in mind.  You asked where the ammonia could be coming from, I will tell you what I understand about ammonia, but this is not based on experience. These are just WAGs.

I have heard an ammonia spike can be caused by a dead snail or dead fish, often out of sight someplace in the tank. That would not explain why both tanks went up. 

If you cover your tanks at night, and uncover them during the day. ammonia is volatile, so it might always be higher in the morning and lower in the evening.

If your filters are clogging up some, and their return involves air, like a sponge filter or an HOB, less ammonia might be evaporating through the filtration process.

Again, this is just a guess, but increasing water circulation and surface agitation might help some the ammonia escape from the water.

I'll keep thinking about it.  

I hope you feel better very soon.

[Flumpweesel]

If you can do a water change do one especially in the stronger result, maybe throw prime in the other so you can change that tomorrow and conserve some energy.

Do what you can you might have to do a few changes over the next few days now ammonia has appeared so do anything you can to make that a bit easier on yourself even if it's just leaving everything out.

I use prime if something happens and I can't change the water right then (dead fish as I'm leaving for work pull the fish throw in some prime) but it is only a temp fix but it buys time to schedule the water change.

[Allan B.]

On 1/31/2022 at 4:18 PM, Flumpweesel said:

If you can do a water change do one especially in the stronger result, maybe throw prime in the other so you can change that tomorrow and conserve some energy.

Do what you can you might have to do a few changes over the next few days now ammonia has appeared so do anything you can to make that a bit easier on yourself even if it's just leaving everything out.

I use prime if something happens and I can't change the water right then (dead fish as I'm leaving for work pull the fish throw in some prime) but it is only a temp fix but it buys time to schedule the water change.

This is the path I'd take. If you can do a water change now and you normally use Prime to dechlorinate, I wouldn't add anymore to Prime to your aquarium since it's concentrated and a you don't want lowering your O2 levels.

Sometimes life happens and you can't do a water change right away, so using Prime to "detoxify" the ammonia is a decent stop-gap—again, don't go overboard. Prime's pretty safe to use, but I always feel better following the "less is more" approach to chemical interventions.

[KittenFishMom]

If you carry your water in buckets for water changes, like I do, I am thinking a smaller water change than normal might be easier on you and still help the fish. Maybe 3 gallon instead of 5 or 1 gallon instead of 3.  Doing some of the change today and some more tomorrow and some more the next day might be in both you and your fish's best interest.

It also might not feel so overwhelming. You don't want to take more water out than you are confident you can replace.  You need your filters to continue to work etc.

[modified lung]

Not feeding can actually cause small ammonia spikes. When bacteria don't get the amount of ammonia they are used to they can enter dormancy and reactivate after a certain level a ammonia builds up again or until they adapt. The ammonia showing up on your test is probably always coming from your detritus. It just might not be getting eaten by the bacteria right now.

[Cinnebuns]

@modified lungah!  Thats likely what happened!  So not feeding today isn't a solution either!

[modified lung]

On 1/31/2022 at 5:23 PM, Cinnebuns said:

@modified lungah!  Thats likely what happened!  So not feeding today isn't a solution either!

I'd do the water change on the tank that tested higher like everyone said and still feed after. Maybe feed half the amount just in case and do another ammonia test 4 hours later.