bad run of luck

I didnt realize the rain would impact Municipal water quality but i guess the low levels in the dams could
But then i would have expected high chlorine and chloramine and not so much ammonia? Am i being blonde?

 

@top dog so sorry to hear about your loss. Dont give up. I know its hard and easy for me to say, but these things make us stronger.

I must also thank you for bring the tap water ammonia levels to our attention last year and can confirm that it looks worse now. I did water changes on Saturday on the 400L when I noticed the Oscars were not happy and the parrots were showing their stress colour. I immediately stopped, check the tap water for ammonia and this confirmed it. Thank goodness for Seachem safe. Its like black magic!

Do you use Safe at all? Did you know their are big size buckets that it comes in as well. Apparently a lot of the big LFS use them in their tanks.

With the pump issue what if you were to get a decent size 12v pump and just hook it up to the car and run the car while pumping, in the case of power outrages. Have you checked out places like Stewart's and Lloyds they may have decent size DC pumps.



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@MariaS i just assumed that fresh rain water was diluting the the rubbish coming out of our taps. think the high ammonia level is a result of huge chloramine level being thrown into water to cover for poor water treatment.

@David Kusner large dc pump is still on the cards but the big jabo are a bit too much for January and have not fond a cheaper option. a bit weary of ebay cheap option as i am buying it for worst case so want 100% reliability. I am using alpha at the moment witch is working well. been thinking of using safe as well but have not used it yet.

 

@top dog

I guess its possible that the higher water levels in the dams do dilute pollution and they dont have to treat the water so harshly

Reading @David Kusner comment on Safe....

Seachem does state that Safe and Prime convert ammonia into non toxic ammonia....
Which os why, in my books, its the product to use during cycling and newly established tanks although its what we use all the time

They do say that the recommended dose only treats chlorine and chloramine and to treat ammonia you have to increase the dosage anything up to 4 times.

Im not sure though if, you treat for ammonia and you test, if the reading will still show ammonia but in a non toxic form or if your reading would be zero ammonia
Would be interesting to check by doing an experiment with a bucket of tap water and see at what dosage the ammonia reading would be zero and if you still had an ammonia reading, email Seachem for an explanation
I have emailed them several times and they answer you (depending on time zone difference at the time of email) within a few hours

You also get ammonia guard, not the Amguard which is powder, the one that looks like Matrix
A few bags of this in your holding tanks could maybe do the trick as well

Obviously this doesnt sort out the pumping issue ... just the ammonia story

 

@A new day

I could be wrong but i have never read anywhere that is releases ammonia back after 24/48 hours
I have read that you might have to repeat after 24/48 hours during cycling where fish are constantly producing new ammonia or a filter that crashes therefore is not getting rid of the ammonia being produced fast enough, until it builds up enough bacteria

It also doesnt say that on Seachem's website, maybe a good idea to ask them

I know Zeolight which also absorbs ammonia is a bit dangerous as it can release toxins back into the water, especially in the presence of salt

Would be interesting if someone with ammonia readings could do a test for us

Overview
Safe™ is the complete and super-concentrated dry conditioner for both fresh and salt water. Safe™ removes chlorine, chloramine and detoxifies ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. It is non-acidic and will not impact pH. A further bonus for the reef hobbyist—Safe™ will not over-activate skimmers.

Safe™ may be used during tank cycling to alleviate ammonia/nitrite toxicity. It contains a binder which renders ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate non-toxic, allowing the biofilter to more efficiently remove them. Use at start-up and whenever adding or replacing water. When transporting or quarantining fish, use Seachem StressGuard™. When adding new fish, use Stability®. Both are ideal for use with Safe™.

 

one of the biggest issues i have had threw process is test for ammonia.
most test go to 0.05 as there lowest and 0.1 as the next reading that is a huge jump.
currently i am able to take 1000ltr of tap water at 0.4ppm good day 0.6 bad days and turn it into 0.05ppm water is 3 days, currently my nitrates are a touch high when i add it to my tank but 12 -16 hour later i can no longer get a nitrate reading in the tank.
started using seachem fancy version of prime called alpha as it is ment to be stronger and better
i treat water 24hour before it goes into my tank.
my current set up is
1000ltr flow bin with a 8000ltr per hour pump circulating threw a 80ltr dustbin with biomedia and 50kg of zeolite
my upgrade will be 3 200ltr barrel cut in half filled with stones as a hydropnic beds with bell siphon, a 200ltr barrel filled with filter media and gravel as bio filter and a UV filter to help kill algae and crack the ammonia.
hoping that if i get spinach and pathos in hydro bed they will clear up my nitrate problems

will post some pics
and try find all testing i was doing on water incase it helps someone else in the future

 

thank you that could be the answer

 

The Sera test kit has zero reading as well, ( yellow)

I also have the JBL, I use both when in doubt, JBL only starts at 0.5mg/l however, that's a very light green on their chart
Whenever i do ammonia with the JBL test, i get a light yellow reading like the SERA zero reading and i dont get the light green of 0.5 on their chart which indicates you at zero as it has not turned light green at the 0.5mg/l mark on the JBL chart

The PH / ammonia chart is important yes as it shows how toxic your ammonia levels are as the higher the PH the more toxic ammonia is.

Yew.. that is quite a setup you have going.....

 

@top dog sorry for your loss, definitely not a nice feeling. We had no electricity for 11 days in December - after load shedding council could not switch the system back on - was all over the news residents demonstrating etc...

Electricity & water is the main things keeping me from upgrading my tanks and getting another Arowana.

Really sad indeed.

 

SADLY - we only learn when there is a disaster, end up saying - what if and DAMN it's not gonna happen to me again so then you set about trying to make it foolproof ( and even then sometimes that method also fails)
We work with living beings, and we choose to take the risks that go associated with it I guess.
But I'm very sorry it had to happen to you!!!

 

....and unfortunately the outlook is deteriorating for a reliable electricity and quality water supply.
If you are not in a position to take your tanks off the grid for extended periods, you are bound to loose a lot of fish, double whammy if you keep expensive and exotic fish....