ammonia water

Question
Hi Renee, ive had a 30 gal. tank for 4 year and did well with it,but i moved and never set it back up. one month ago i found a 150 gallon tall, almost brand new with everything to go with it for 500.00. I set it up and kept having ammonia problems with it, i had a few giant danios in it to help get it started but to no avail, the danios are still alive though. Come to find out my own tap water has ammonia in it,Ive used all the ammonia removers to no avail, and did partial water changes with water conditioner in the new water to no avail, so i went and bought drinking water at 35 cents a gallon and did a 80% water change, the balas and the tinfoils seemed to love it and it tested clean for 2 days, but now the ammonia is begining to come back. I don't want any more fish to die and this is getting very expensive. I also have an aqua clear 110 filter and left room on the other backside of the tank in case i need another one but they are about 80.00, and i am running the ammonia remover in the filter right now. my wife is under a ton of stress and anxiety right now i just want the tank pristine and beutifull for her to lose her mind in I hope you have an answer. Geoffrey K.

Answer
Hi Geoffrey,

Your filter is the culprit of why the ammonia is returning.

Let's add a couple really strong filters to the tank.  Certainly the 110 is under-rated for your tank by about 3, to four times.

I would add the Marineland filtration units.  Three of the double units.  This will perk up water movement, keeping debris from the bottom and cleaning fish feces.  This will run you about $150 for 3 more, but if you go to Ebay, you can probably get all three for the price of one of the other filters.  They are GOOD filters.

In the filters, I advise submersing a cup of Zeolyte Crystals to keep ammonia at bay.  Zeolyte literally absorbs ammonia and I swear by it.  It's inexpensive as well, so meantime, before you buy new filters...put that in TODAY.

You want at least a cup per filter when it's running.  Meantime, remove a sponge or two and fill a net with zeolyte and drop it into the aquaclear.

Your water has ammonia?  This is very much of concern and you do need to contact your water board.  Ammonia forms from POOP.

I'd never drink my tap water again, if this were the case.  Terrifying, to be honest.

The tank will always need a 20 gallon water change every month, to keep it fresh, but the filters, once purchased, will be a godsend.  

The store is going to try to sell you a canister filter.  DON'T BUY IT.  They sell them telling people they are going to need changed only once a year and they need changed once a month, so it's a rotten deal for a newbie fishkeeper to get into.  They turn into nitrate factories and eventually all canister run systems get a total crash from that stuff feeding back in, causing severe ammonia spikes.

Plus, they are also very expensive.

I hope you feel free to write me anytime...I will help you all I can.

Happy fish-keeping.
Renee