shrimp surviving in high ammonia

[brandeeno]

I have had my 10 gallon tank for 6 weeks now, and 4 of those weeks with an amano shrimp. The ammonia levels are still off the chart, Iguess my nitrogen cycle has not completed yet. They have been off the chart for the past 4 weeks. Despite that, my shrimp is surviving. How is this possible considering what I have read regarding their sensitivity to ammonia?

The tests are being done with liquid droppers.

[mgamer20o0]

what is off the charts? there is the possibility for false positives. i would also check to make sure its not expired.

[brandeeno]

I been having my local fish store do the testing for me. I would rather not invest in a test kit considering they will do it for me.

How do I know if they are not testing properly / creating false positives ?

[Andrewz00]

is the LFS is doing the testing, is it the same person or different people who do it for you? if it is different people, its likely they are doing a fine job and they are not getting false positives. what were the test results for nitrates and nitrites, this would be a strong indicator on if your tank is actually cycling or not.

i would strongly recommend investing in a testing kit for your self... stay away from the strips and go for the one with the test tubes and droppers... must more accurate.

[brandeeno]

Different people.... up to 3 I think.

Nitrites were in the middle of the chart, sorry I don't know the value. Nitrates were zero.

[mgamer20o0]

Originally Posted by brandeeno

I been having my local fish store do the testing for me. I would rather not invest in a test kit considering they will do it for me.

How do I know if they are not testing properly / creating false positives ?

test kit a lot cheaper then killing off a ton a fish. you can get them from walmart for what 20-25 for the master test kit.

some test kits will read NH3 and NH4+. NH3 is the harmful one to the fish and some declore will change NH3 to NH4+. it will show up in the test but might be harmful.

[brandeeno]

here is a picture of my tank