Spiking Ammonia Levels

[gzeiger]

You shouldn't be letting nitrite get to 1 with fish in.

 

[Fishkid]

Well, without testing it every 5 minutes it is kind of difficult. IN the morning it was .5 and went to 1.0 during the day. Did a water change as soon as that and high nitrate levels were found.

Good news is that as of this morning, ammonia and nitrites are at 0 and nitrates are at 20 ppm.

 

[gzeiger]

Sounds like you're done. It's probably good practice to keep testing for a few more days, but you can probably go to a weekly or less frequent ammonia/nitrate test at this point.

 

[Fishkid]

Figured I would go two more days before adding a couple of fish, just to make sure. Figured three cardinal tetras would not send it overboard.

 

[missileman]

YAY, keep an eye on it but I think you are about done

 

[krap101]

I think your really really close to being done. For the cardinals, I would suggest trying to get some older stock, since cardinals are very sensitive after being shipped (being caught in the wild), and die off pretty easily. The ones that do survive shipment are usually stronger, and will give you less problems.

 

[Fishkid]

Knew it was too good to be true. Nitrates shot back up to 40 ppm. Did a 20% water change. Cycling goes on.

 

[krap101]

Well, if there aren't any nitrates or ammonia, that means the cycle is done. Nitrates are the end product, where you get rid of it with wcs or plants.

 

[Fishkid]

I know, I know. Will keep doing water changes.

 

[missileman]

Yes, that is normal for nitrate to go up, maybe not by that much that quickly, but it will go up for the rest of eternity.
Probably just finished cycling out the last of the build up.
You are at a point, I think, where you will start to see what kind of bioload you have on that tank. Over the next couple of weeks keep a close eye on nitrate. I try to have mine below 20ppm but I have one tank that is overloaded that gets up to 40ppm, I have to change water in it twice a week. You will see how quickly the nitrate will build up and how often you will have to change water over the next couple of weeks.

 

[alphanguy]

test strips

If those things don't work, how come some consumer agency hasn't exposed the fact that they don't work. I mean... just how bad are they? Can you have Ammonia in your tank of 6 ppm, and the strip will read 0? I've seen the strips at virtually EVERY pet store I have ever walked into. Are these stores not reputable because they sell the strips? And if this API kit is the ONLY ONE that works, why isn't that the only thing the pet stores sell?

 

[gzeiger]

They're not THAT bad. They are accurate at different ranges. The API kit will not really distinguish realiably between 5 and 7 ppm ammonia. If you're doing initial cycling, strips may indeed be preferred. Once you add fish, you're really interested in distinguishing very low concentrations, between 0 and maybe 0.5 at the most. Strips aren't as accurate at the low range, which is what you need to see to avoid poisoning your fish.