Ammonia level on cycling tank

[WhataMack]

Hi, I have a question about ammonia levels on a tank I've been cycling for three weeks. I check the ammonia level every day and the lowest level has been at 0.25 ppm for the past week.

Here's some info on my setup:

• 55 gal. freshwater tank with fake plants, and live frogbit floating plants covering about 20% of the surface.
• Filter: New Fluval 306 with default supplied media (activated carbon, BioMax rings and foam), running at full flow rate.
• Water: Changing 15 gallons every one to two days, with Fluval Cycle Biological Booster (i.e., adding bacteria) added at recommended rate of 10 ml / 10 gallons. pH is 6.8.
• Fish: 12 neon tetras, looking very healthy
• Food: Micro pellets, feeding once per day and it's fully eaten between two to three minutes.

Does this ammonia level sound typical at this point? If not, is there something else I should be doing to stimulate more bacterial growth to get the ammonia down to 0.0 ppm? Thanks in advance for any help.

 

[HooKooDooKu]

Cycling a tank takes about 4 to 8 weeks. I don't think it is a big deal that you still have ammonia levels after only 3 weeks.

As for the 'Fluval Cycle Biological Booster' you are using, I personally believe that to be a waste of money.

#1. Years ago, when I was learning how to cycle a fish tank, all the knowledgeable people in forums such as these always commented that when it comes to products that claim to provide you a colony of beneficial bacteria, it has to be a refrigerated product. Otherwise the colony dies. And even refrigerated, these products had a short shelf life... hence the reason few fish stores carried them.

#2. If the product was living up to its hype, you shouldn't have any ammonia levels at this point because the Biological Booster should be providing you the needed bacteria (but apparently it isn't).

#3. Once you have a colony of bacteria established, it will be mainly concentrated in the filter media... because all the water in your tank eventually passes thru that media. As such, you don't need any sort of biological enhancement when you change the water because very little of your biological colony is free-floating in the water (provided you do not wash your filter with chlorinated water... that WILL kill off your colony). So any product that suggests it is needed when you do water changes sounds like snake oil to me.