Nitrogen Cycle Ammonia Issues

[jordanb_ny]

I'm cycling a new fishless 10 gallon planted aquarium. At first everything seemed fine, with an ammonia spike and no nitrite or nitrate.

After a couple of days, I tested the water again showing the same results. I waited a few more days and finally noticed a rise in both the nitrite and nitrate however the ammonia is still very high.

Is this a normal occurrence and I shouldn't be worried? Is there a way to lower the ammonia?

Here are my readings from earlier today.




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[aclark]

How high did you dose the ammonia to begin with?

 

[coralbandit]

^+1^
Seems like you are moving quickly?

 

[jordanb_ny]

I never dosed the tank. I added some fish flakes and I have plants that decayed a little, so I'm assuming that's where most of the ammonia came from. But I removed most, if not all, of the dead plants and food.


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[aclark]

I would say you are ok. Your ammonia is still good and the nitrites are still low. That means you BB is still building and will start to convert faster soon enough. Keep testing occasionally and you'll see the progress.

 

[jordanb_ny]

I've been testing my water everyday and I noticed that my Nitrite spiked and then began to go down a little every day I've been checking. Also my nitrate has rose just slightly. However my ammonia levels have remained the same all throughout. I'm not sure what is happening.

 

[J.Mcpeak]

Most of the ammonia would've come from the fish food if you didn't dose with ammonia.
(I've got results as high as 4ppm tan from fish foods that I've tested.)

Also worth noting, if you use a product that binds ammonia such as prime, you will get an ammonia reading even though it is all in the fairly safe form.
The ammonia reading is a TAN reading not just ammonia but ammonium.

Nh3=ammonia (free ammonia or unionised) unsafe
Nh4=ammonium (ionised ammonia) safer
TAN=total ammonia-nitrogen. (Test kit result)

Another worthy note is, ammonia is dependent on pH and temperature, both can seriously effect toxicity.