Keeping Freshwater Dwarf Shrimp

[mnemenoi]

No, It will not do anything due to the high TDS (Total Dissolved Minerals) in our water. It will only cause a rebound in Ph as it shifts back up. With Prime it will lock it up as Ammonium until the beneficial bacteria uptake it in the Nitrogen cycle. A few folks here have noticed Ammonia readings in fresh tap water and your results are proof. Your water company is adding it into the tap to control quality and prevent certain organisms. Here is a link to a thread I started discussing the relationship of Ammonia/Ammonium and Ph. Your levels are a bit high, but not dangerous. Just keep an eye on them and they should fall gradually over the next few days. You can also try using bottled water for water changes if your tank is small enough. Otherwise, just slim down your changes to 25% until you can be sure you your water is Ammonia free as this feeds the Nitrate Cycle and until you have plants to uptake the excess it is simply feeding the algae. Higher plants will usually outcompete it for nutrients and it will eventually get under control.

[Marina Hyde]

So I tested the tap water and found a pH of 7.6 and ammonia level of .25ppm. Am I not using enough prime? I'm following bottle directions. Should I try adding more? Do I need snails to clean up excess algae?

[Parzival]

Keeping Freshwater Dwarf Shrimp

Prime will make the ammonia harmless but will not affect your test readings.

[mnemenoi]

+1 Ammonia will be bound up as Ammonium (safe for everything), but will still register as Ammonia in the test. Nerites are great choices as well as Cherry Shrimp or another Neocaridina species. We have kept them together without any big incident. Amanos are larger and better algae eaters, but can be bullies...

[LooksLater]

Prime will make the ammonia harmless but will not affect your test readings.

Best thing to do, is use your test kit on your tap- test it out of tap, and also prime it and test it. This will tell you if it's your tap, or an ammonium reading due to locked up (harmless) ammonia from your primed water. Feel free to start a new thread to discuss the findings and look for solutions/opinions!