Help with shrimp tank

[Jetxx]

Sorry for the late reply, was doing some renovation to my house. Tap water readings is

Ph - 8.4
Ammonia - 2.0ppm
Nitrite - 1.0ppm
Nitrate - 20ppm

Which seems very weird for my country's tap water, as they deem it to be drinkable straight from tap.. I read somewhere that certain water conditioner will have false ammonia readings in test kits that are salicylate based. Is API freshwater master test kit salicylate based?

[Slaphppy7]

What country are you in?....I'm in the US, and have around 1 PPM amm in my municipal tap, as well...no trItes or trAtes, though

It is important to wait 24 hours after a WC to test your tank params, Prime will convert ammonia into an inert form, but it will still show up on the API test after a WC for several hours

[Jetxx]

I'm in Singapore. I see.. I will leave my pail of water out to breathe for 24 hours, then do a water change (which is due at about 4 days each water change) then wait another 24 hours to test it.

[Slaphppy7]

Unless your water municipality uses pure chlorine, there's no need to let the water "breathe"...many places now use chloramine, which will not gas off like pure chlorine

[Jetxx]

I see. Have to look it up. Or contact them to be sure. The data I found, its just a range and I can never be sure.. which is in this link https://www.pub.gov.sg/Documents/Sin...er_Quality.pdf

[Slaphppy7]

Looks like regular chlorine is used.
@Rocksor, have a look when you can.

[Rocksor]

I would assume 5ppm of chlorine in your tap water. Unless you have a chlorine test kit, letting the water sit out for 24 hours may not fully remove all of the chlorine. According to this site, it takes 110hours just to remove 2ppm chlorine from 10 gallons. Boiling the water or putting an airstone will help speed up the removal process.

https://aquanswers.com/how-long-does...rely/#how-long

[Jetxx]

Woah! I learnt something that debunks all the things my parents told me up until today! Till now, they are still telling me to leave it out overnight and it'll be safe for aquarium use, and told me that water conditioners are gimmicks to make me spend money! Hahaha and all along I kept thinking maybe I don't have what it takes to be in this hobby.. RIP to the many fishes.. Now after google and the many forums that came into my life, I'm glad.

[Slaphppy7]

Seachem Prime should be in every fishkeeper's supplies, IMO

[Rocksor]

Woah! I learnt something that debunks all the things my parents told me up until today! Till now, they are still telling me to leave it out overnight and it'll be safe for aquarium use, and told me that water conditioners are gimmicks to make me spend money! Hahaha and all along I kept thinking maybe I don't have what it takes to be in this hobby.. RIP to the many fishes.. Now after google and the many forums that came into my life, I'm glad.

Water conditioners that remove chlorine/chloramine are essential and more budget friendly than a really good chlorine test kit. With a municipality that uses chlorine, they can increase the amount of chlorine for a short period of time, anywhere from 5ppm-10ppm, whenever they suspect bacteria in the water lines have built up. You can still let the tap water sit out for 24 hours, but I still would dose with water conditioner for the whole tank volume.