Week 3 levels....

[prissysmom]

Hi folks,

Here are my week 3 totals..

Ammonia- .25
Nitrite- .1
Nitrates- 20


Do you think I could have missed my ammonia spike since it's been .25 every week and I was testing once a week?

Is there anything I should be doing (except waiting) for these levels? i.e water changes, adding more shrimp?


Also, I have my quarantine tank ready to go. Would it be ok to add a set of clown fish to it to start their 6 week quarantine? I saw a pair and would like to get them together so they get along

 

[CaptainAhab]

If your QT is ready to go, why not swipe some of the filter material from there and jump start your cycle? The QT is cycled right? And being fed an ammonia source to keep the bacteria alive?

 

[prissysmom]

If your QT is ready to go, why not swipe some of the filter material from there and jump start your cycle? The QT is cycled right? And being fed an ammonia source to keep the bacteria alive?

I started the QT 2 weeks ago and have been putting in fish food once a day.
I will test that water to see what it is reading

 

[CaptainAhab]

Your QT isn't going to cycle any faster than your main.. IMO your QT is not cycled and ready for fish.

If you are using tap water, the readings you are getting on your main may match pretty closely your water source.

 

[Jnam]

A good way to check, IMO, is to take a nice size chunk of uncooked raw shrimp and toss it in the tank until you read nice amonia reading. I take a NEW nylon and cut the foot out and put the shrimp in there just to keep it from making a mess. Once you see the ammonia spike from the decaying shrimp take it out and over the next few hours test for nitrites only (easiest test in the API kit) if you arent seeing any TRITES above your base readings and the Ammonia is staying pretty high or not going down at all then no you have not cycled yet.

Again this is what I do to test for a cycle, basicly cause a mini cycle and see how quickly it recovers, only do this on a new tank with out fish.

 

[prissysmom]

A good way to check, IMO, is to take a nice size chunk of uncooked raw shrimp and toss it in the tank until you read nice amonia reading. I take a NEW nylon and cut the foot out and put the shrimp in there just to keep it from making a mess. Once you see the ammonia spike from the decaying shrimp take it out and over the next few hours test for nitrites only (easiest test in the API kit) if you arent seeing any TRITES above your base readings and the Ammonia is staying pretty high or not going down at all then no you have not cycled yet.

Again this is what I do to test for a cycle, basicly cause a mini cycle and see how quickly it recovers, only do this on a new tank with out fish.

Thanks, I will give this a try. How long do you leave the shrimp in before testing for that ammonia spike?

 

[Jnam]

Your nose will tell you LOL, no seriously the shrimp will start to look pretty nasty and if you remove it from the water you will most certainly be able to smell the rotting fish smell. Thats when its nice and gross in there. You could also dose straight ammonia from the hardware store. However most people will over do the amount of Ammmonia and then you are having to do huge PWCs Good luck