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i was doing my weekly change yesterday and whilst doing so rinsed the filters and removed and swapped some filter wool. i have been monitoring the ammonia in the tank very regularly of late as i have some neons with bitten tails- 2 of which look slightly white with possible infection so have been dosing with pimafix. when i started the dosing i removed 3 trays of carbon from the filter which is the reason i have been monitoring the ammonia more frequently than normal as i was worried i may have removed a load of beneficial bacteria in the process.

any way i let the filter run an hour or so after change and checked the water and all the parameters were normal except the ammonia which was between 0.25 and .50ppm. i should add that all week previously it had been 0.

anyway i got all worried and ran around abit. then settled down and checked the tap water- which was 0 ammonia and then watched the fish for a bit and thought about where this ammonia could be coming from. about an hour later i checked the ammonia again in hte tank just to be sure and it was 0 again. i was just wandering if there was a reason for this- could it be a mini 2 hour cycle? is that possible? or do you think the test was at fault?

I'd do another read, but it sounds like a false reading (either one, you culd well have a mini cycle) because you shouldn't be jumping from that level to 0 in the space of 2 hours.


Have you done a quick check of your nitrate?

For animals, the entire universe has been neatly divided into things to (a) mate with, (b) eat, (c) run away from, and (d) rocks. - Terry Pratchett

just curious also, do you use test strips or liquids? If you use strips, I would suggest getting the liquids. They are much more accurate!

good luck!

This is not uncommon in certain parts of Aust. Also do a check on your water supply though it might be a bit late now. There is a very good chance it came through the water supply.

I hope you only changed a small part of the filter wool.
Give the tank a good dose of "Sera Nitrivic" or "Amtrite" Down You will not find that on the shelf as it must be kept in the fridg.

Have a look in [link=My Profile] http://www.fishprofiles.com/forums/member.aspx?id=1935[/link] for my tank info

Look here for my
Betta 11Gal Desktop & Placidity 5ft Community Tank Photos

Keith

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yes i think it may have been the reading (by the way the reading for nitrate was 0 when i tested the full parameters after having changed the water, after this test i tested only ammonia- maybe i should have done nitrate/trite tests too)
i have tested the ammonia again today and it was 0.
as for the tap water Keith- i tested that after the original test and it was 0, we have had problems to this affect in this part of NSW. so i think it was the test. i use liquid test kits- maybe there was the last drip of a previous test in the tube or something similar that influenced the test. i dont know but im glad the ammonia is 0!!

i have to go to work just now but will do a full parameters test when i get back- cheers for the ideas