Ammonia Problem

[Otters]

My 11-month old 46 gallon aquarium has .25 ppm of ammonia. I have 3 fish in there, a tomato clownfish and 2 percula clownfish, with 6 turbo snails. pH is 8.2, Nitrate is 20, and Nitrite is 0. Anyone have any clue on where this source of ammonia has come from and does anyone have a solution to this problem?

[leebca]

For more help, we should know:

1) What are you using for your biological filter (live rock, canister, ?)
2) Are you using enough for your biological filter (enough live rock, enough media in the canister, etc.)
3) Have you checked all things you add for possible sources of ammonia (checking the source water; salt water you use; additives; etc.)
4) Analise organic sources that create ammonia when it decays (the foods put into the tank; additives; etc.)
5) They type of system that you have (equipment, DSB, skimmer, etc., etc.).

A measurement of ammonia could be a bad ammonia test kit, mis-using the test kit or misreading the results. Check this all out too.

Next, look for decaying organic material. Is there any detritus in the system; build up of 'junk;' etc., etc. or maybe enough organics aren't being removed (like the skimmer is not working properly, or a skimmer is not being used). These are the sort of things to look for.