how long should my ammonia take to drop to zero and is my nitrate too high?

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Penguin

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Hey guys I'm sorry for asking so many questions but how long should my ammonia take to drop to zero and is my nitrate too high?

Ammonia- .5 ppm
Nitrate- 5 ppm
Nitrite-0 ppm
Ph- 8.0
Salinity- 1.022
 
how far in are you in the cycle
if you are just into your cycle you need a ammonia source bigger than 0.5
needs to be about 4.0 for a proper cycle

now if you already into your cycle how long has it been a normal cycle takes 3/6 weeks
if you already been cycling 3/6 weeks with that reading I'd give it another day till it hits 0 than you can do a water change to drop the left over nitrates
if it's only 2 or 3 days you are no way near cycling and need to add ammonia source
 
It will bottom out any day now. If this is a fishless cycle you make want to dose your ammonia a bit higher. Fish in, well I don't know how the fish are alive.

Nevertheless, either way you are just playing the waiting game. One day you will wake up and nitrites will be gone.


Caleb
 
It will bottom out any day now. If this is a fishless cycle you make want to dose your ammonia a bit higher. Fish in, well I don't know how the fish are alive.

Nevertheless, either way you are just playing the waiting game. One day you will wake up and nitrites will be gone.


Caleb

how far in are you in the cycle
if you are just into your cycle you need a ammonia source bigger than 0.5
needs to be about 4.0 for a proper cycle

now if you already into your cycle how long has it been a normal cycle takes 3/6 weeks
if you already been cycling 3/6 weeks with that reading I'd give it another day till it hits 0 than you can do a water change to drop the left over nitrates
if it's only 2 or 3 days you are no way near cycling and need to add ammonia source

Weird thing is the color for ammonia testing i got isnt any of the colors on the card its this weird greyish green color
 
does it look like a grayish lemon aid if so its good 0PPM if it's a API test kit
if so I think your ready for a water change
 
If you have rock, be it live or not, it should be added to the tank during the cycle. The bacteria you are building up will be in that rock. If it is live, the bacteria will eat the ammonia up and quicken your cycle. If not, the bacteria will have a place to live. Toss it in.
 
If you have rock, be it live or not, it should be added to the tank during the cycle. The bacteria you are building up will be in that rock. If it is live, the bacteria will eat the ammonia up and quicken your cycle. If not, the bacteria will have a place to live. Toss it in.

Should I be worried about my SG right now because I'm using the fluval sea hydrometer and one test I'll get 1.022 and the next it'll read as 1.016 and then the next morning it'll read 1.021
 
Errors when testing due to air bubbles on the arm of the hydrometer. Not really that big of a deal while cycling. I would want to spend my money on a refractometer asap. They can be found pretty cheap on ebay and Milwaukee makes a digital one that I use and simply love that I added to my list of saltwater toys.
 
Errors when testing due to air bubbles on the arm of the hydrometer. Not really that big of a deal while cycling. I would want to spend my money on a refractometer asap. They can be found pretty cheap on ebay and Milwaukee makes a digital one that I use and simply love that I added to my list of saltwater toys.

I will check out ebay now and can i find a reliable one at my lfs if i cant order one off line?
 
Milwaukee makes a digital one that I use and simply love that I added to my list of saltwater toys.

I'm on year 3 with my Hanna digital.(y)
Funny thing is out of 3 different hydrometers my oldest(over 20 years) was the most accurate and all three were different(considerably without air bubbles !).
 
I'm on year 3 with my Hanna digital.(y)
Funny thing is out of 3 different hydrometers my oldest(over 20 years) was the most accurate and all three were different(considerably without air bubbles !).

What is the best one i can get quickly from my lfs because I dont wanna do anything until i know my exact SG and plus it'd be nice to get my live rock and power head and hydrometer or refractometer in one shot tomorrow?
 
As long as you can get a refractometer with calibration fluid, you will be just fine. That said, I've never personally seen one sold at a LFS. If you have a great one, they might have them. I think the cheapest I've ever seen is 35 bucks off of ebay and the Milwaukee digital was 100. I wasn't even aware of Hanna's TBH.
 
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