Tank Setups • ammonia too high! in storage tank

[pharrix]

Long story here, but I will summarize.

100 gal rubbermade storage tank;
r/o water output is 9 ppm, tested for ammonia came back clean.

Added 12 tsp of baking soda & salt ( I forgot the name of it, to make the water harder ).
Tested, ph 8.4 - 8.8 kinda of a lighter purple on api test.
gh is 175 or abouts.

Added some cichlid essentials for more minerals, ( not sure if its needed, but first time dealing with ro water )
Ammonia tested for the first water change .25;

Added prime, waited 30 - 40 minutes, tested ok in tank. I already had done the water change when I tested for ammonia.

Now its been a week, fish are showing signs of mating.... first time .....

tested ammonia in storage tank getting ready to do another water change and its off the charts. I don't have the chart with me, but it has to be towards the end of the chart.. meaning death for the fish.

I'm stuck... do you think the cichlid essentials could be doing this ? or the new rubbermaid storage tank ? I wouldn't think the buffer mixture here on the site would cause it... but I need to do a water change, and don't want to kill my fish..

Any suggestions or answers anyone can provide would be helpful.

[pharrix]

After thinking about this whole deal. I am thinking it possibly could be some silicone ge 1 that I let sit for 24 hours, but majority of it was under a piece of glass so it may not have been dry. Would this leech ammonia into the storage tank ?

A little background on the glass, I needed something that my heaters & power heads would stick too in the storage tank, so I got two 12" x 12" sheets of glass, one came loose this past week, I may have noticed it around the same time as the ammonia issue, but not sure if it was unstuck before then. On both pieces of glass I put silicone around the edge of the glass and made a X on the inside and stuck it to the rubbermaid storage tank.

[jd lover]

Why would you use ro water and then add buffer to raise Ph? That's a complete oxymoron

[AulonoKarl]

The ammonia is coming from leftover food and fish poop, most likely. If your tank were cycled before you put fish in there, you wouldn't have a problem.

[pharrix]

Please see subject, storage tank, there is no fish food or fish waste in the storage tank.

[reflexhunter]

The ammonia is coming from leftover food and fish poop, most likely. If your tank were cycled before you put fish in there, you wouldn't have a problem.

I think he is talking about the water in his storage tank.

I wonder if you are getting a false reading from all the chemicals that you are adding to the water.

[pharrix]

Why would you use ro water and then add buffer to raise Ph? That's a complete oxymoron

I am using well water, conditions of the well water have changed to an undesirable state. The solution I was able to come up with has resolved one issue, but has presented another.

Please lets stay on topic, I'm trying to find out what is causing the ammonia to go above 0. Ro water tested for ammonia has tested 0.

So its either the buffer mixture I've had added to the tank, which I doubt is causing the ammonia issue. The storage tank, which people use for curing life rock and storage tanks, so I'm not sure if that is the issue. Possibly the silicone, I will empty the storage tank out tonight, scrap off the silicone on the loose piece of glass and fill it back up and test before and after I do anything with the water.

[pharrix]

I have thought about false reports. After the water change in the fish tank water tested for atleast .25 I added prime to help fight the increase of ammonia. I tried to do the same with the storage tank, ammonia levels increased. ( I have added 4 cap fulls of prime to the storage tank, no not all at once.) Last night I took some water out of the storage tank, put it in a 5 gal bucket. I plan to get some more prime today and see if I can't remove the ammonia once its removed from the source of the ammonia leech. Just an idea... I'm running out of them.

Chemicals I have added to the water are as follows:
Kent R/O Right
The Buffer Recipe listed on this site.
Kent Cichlid Essentials.

I have an email to Kent's to ask about the Essentials, but I truly feel since they are selling this to people, it wouldn't or shouldn't increase ammonia in any water source. I've been racking my brain about this issue all weekend.

ONLY solution I can come up with is to start over...

[jd lover]

This is why I adjust my fish to my Water not my water to my fish.

My advice: remove one variable at a time

[pharrix]

well removed both pieces of glass one had several spots of uncured silicone, but unsure if water was getting to it.

people say silicone is toxic uncured, but why? does it leech ammonia ? Because at these levels my fish would be dead for sure.

[newforestrob]

prime binds ammonia to a non toxic state,it doesn't remove it

[pharrix]

api test showed I had at least 8.0 ppm of ammonia in the storage tank.

[reflexhunter]

Have you tested your water at the tap?

[pharrix]

Have you tested your water at the tap?

Reflexhunter, I stated above that the water that is coming out of the ro unit has 0 ammonia.

[pharrix]

Update, cleaned up the sides of the storage tank, I could smell what could be ammonia where the silicone had not cured yet. I'm letting it go 48 hours after removing the glass to make sure its cured. I just hope that the rubbermaid tank does not soak up some of the uncured ammonia or whatever silicone is uncured and leech it in the water.

Tonight I will begin the 2 day process of filling it up with ro water. Plans are to let it fill it up 24 hours, then test the water before adding any chemicals.