captaincritical
Aquarium Advice Freak
Hello all!
I have a 35g aquarium that's been up and running since mid-February. I cycled without fish, using seeded media from a friend. After about a week or so of cycling and re-dosing with fish food to raise my ammonia level, I had minimal ammonia (0.25ppm), no nitrites, and some nitrates, which I brought down with a large water change.
With my ammonia level refusing to budge and go down below 0.25ppm, I took the advice of several forum members here and added fish, hoping it would help the cycle complete for good. There are currently 6 fish in the tank, all of which are doing great with the necessary water changes and dosing with Prime.
However, my ammonia is still holding steady at low levels after about a month of cycling. It reads 0.25ppm straight from the tap and I have never seen it go below that reading. All of my other water parameters are ideal. I dose with Prime to ensure that there's no damage done to the fish, but now I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever see an ammonia test that reads 0. I did read that Prime can cause false ammonia readings, but that it should test clear after 24 hours, which isn't what I'm seeing.
I suppose what I'm asking is the following:
- Could Prime be the reason for my ever-present 0.25ppm reading of ammonia?
- Am I ever going to be able to quit dosing daily so that I can find out (without harming my fish)?
Thanks a bunch!
I have a 35g aquarium that's been up and running since mid-February. I cycled without fish, using seeded media from a friend. After about a week or so of cycling and re-dosing with fish food to raise my ammonia level, I had minimal ammonia (0.25ppm), no nitrites, and some nitrates, which I brought down with a large water change.
With my ammonia level refusing to budge and go down below 0.25ppm, I took the advice of several forum members here and added fish, hoping it would help the cycle complete for good. There are currently 6 fish in the tank, all of which are doing great with the necessary water changes and dosing with Prime.
However, my ammonia is still holding steady at low levels after about a month of cycling. It reads 0.25ppm straight from the tap and I have never seen it go below that reading. All of my other water parameters are ideal. I dose with Prime to ensure that there's no damage done to the fish, but now I'm beginning to wonder if I'll ever see an ammonia test that reads 0. I did read that Prime can cause false ammonia readings, but that it should test clear after 24 hours, which isn't what I'm seeing.
I suppose what I'm asking is the following:
- Could Prime be the reason for my ever-present 0.25ppm reading of ammonia?
- Am I ever going to be able to quit dosing daily so that I can find out (without harming my fish)?
Thanks a bunch!
is to use our MultiTest: Ammonia™ kit... it uses a gas exchange sensor system which is not affected by the presence of Prime® or other similar products. It also has the added advantage that it can detect the more dangerous free ammonia and distinguish it from total ammonia (which is both the free and ionized forms of ammonia (the ionized form is not toxic)).
let us know how it turns out.
