How does ammonia read 0 in a cycled tank?

[PilotGav]

I'm curious -

In a fully cycled tank ammonia should always read zero. But how is this possible if fish are constantly emitting ammonia into the tank? How do trace amounts which haven't been converted yet not show up? Is the processing that instant?

Gavin

 

[jetajockey]

To put it simply, yes, the bacteria convert it before it builds to any significant amount measurable by a liquid test. Generally speaking most tanks don't produce massive amounts of ammonia, I know some guides tell people to dose a certain PPM like 4 or 5, but I believe that in most all cases this is way more than a tank actually processes with a full fish load.