OMG..pls reply..had a cycled tank, now got ammonia??

[shynepo3]

ok, so i had a betta that developed fin rot...there was tons of debris flying around due to me shaking the filter. i wasn't sure if that was the cause, or if it was due to a new plastic part of a silk plant i put in. i figured, maybe the filter's not working right or the gravel is really dirty (which i do vacuum once a week). i decided i wanted to put new gravel anyways...

so i took everything out, put the sponge filter in tank water, and emptied and rinsed out the tank itself. put the new gravel in, along with his castle, etc. i didn't keep the decorations wet, i rinsed them as well...so pretty much his hob and sponge filter were the only things that remained in the tank water (the hob still had tank water).

after refilling with new water and prime, and a tiny bit of salt for his fin rot, i put him back slowly 1 hour later. everything seems fine, but even after about 2 hours, i'm getting a reading of 0.5 ammoinia, 0 nitrites, and nitrates are between 0-5...not exactly yellow, but it's not the orange like color of 5 (api liquid test kit)...

did i lose my cycle? or does it just take a while to register back into new water? and my tap water does have ammonia...does prime show up as 0.5 or .25 for the first day or so??

 

[jsoong]

If you have chloramines in the water (this is a common disinfectant in city water), then Prime (or another dechlor) breaks that down to chlorine & ammonia. Both are bound and harmless, but will register in your test kit.

As long as it is 0.25 or 0.5 right after a water change, it is OK, and should disappear in a few hours. i would monitor that for a few days & as long as it is not rising, then you are OK. You might have a mini-cycle from the tank redo, so if the ammonia starts rising, you will have to do a few pwc to bring that down. As a rule, a mini-cycle only last a few days, so it shouldn't be too much work.

 

[shynepo3]

phew...thanks so much for replying... i don't mind doing the pwcs at all..so my nitrates should eventually get back to 5-10? it's showing some weird color..kind of looks like th 8.0 color of the high range ph test..

so, as long as it remains at 0.5, i should be ok? what if tomorrow, it's still at 0.5?

 

[jsoong]

If your ammonia doesn't go down after 24 hrs., you might be facing a mini-cycle & will need to do some pwc to keep levels down.

The nitrates will start rising once your have some fish waste for the bio-filter to work on. You removed & cleaned out everything, so basically you reset the tank to zero but things will gradually build up again.

 

[shynepo3]

great....thanks so much

 

[shynepo3]

So I tested this morning,'and I have 0 amm and nitrites, and 0-5 nitrates. Since my betta is suffering from fin rot, is it ok to do some pwc, even though the bacteria is slowly building up again?

 

[shynepo3]

omg....i just re-checked, and after using different waters to see what a 0 nitrate level would look like, i'm come to the conclusion that my nitrate level is actually 0....so i have 0,0, 0 for amm, trites and trates....

does that mean my cycle is gone? and can i leave my betta in there and do i have to take him out?

 

[eco23]

omg....i just re-checked, and after using different waters to see what a 0 nitrate level would look like, i'm come to the conclusion that my nitrate level is actually 0....so i have 0,0, 0 for amm, trites and trates....

does that mean my cycle is gone? and can i leave my betta in there and do i have to take him out?

Is your tank planted? If so, plants will be using the nitrAtes and can cause extremely low levels of no3 assuming the bio-load is light. What type of test kit are you using?

 

[shynepo3]

no plants..using api test kit

 

[eco23]

The ammonia and nitrIte levels are what are important. As long as the values are staying at zero...that's really your only concern. I'd say that if you see any ammonia or nitrIte spikes, water changes to ensure they stay below .25 until the tank stabilizes is your course of action. I'm not sure what your bio-load is, but if it's a single Betta it's very light and wouldn't produce many nitrAtes at all unless you hadn't done any water changes in a long time. Just keep an eye on your parameters and you should be good to go.

 

[shynepo3]

thanks eco...so um.....my tank is still technically cycled?

 

[eco23]

thanks eco...so um.....my tank is still technically cycled?

TBH, I don't have the information to give you a definitive yes or no. Was the tank cycled previously before the changes? If so, since you kept the media wet there's no way you'd be starting at the beginning. At worst, you'd have a mini-cycle while the tank stabilizes.

The absence of nitrAtes in an unplanted tank is definitely puzzling, but since no3 is the end result of the nitrogen cycle (in an aquarium at least), the lower the ammonia output, the slower the nitrAte will build up. I'd simply test your ammo and no2 every day, do a pwc if they climb above .25, and ride it out until the tank proves stable.

 

[shynepo3]

ok...will do...this sucks, i should haven't bothered with changing the gravel..

yes, the tank was cycled prior, with readings of 0,0 and 5ppm of nitrates.

 

[eco23]

ok...will do...this sucks, i should haven't bothered with changing the gravel..

yes, the tank was cycled prior, with readings of 0,0 and 5ppm of nitrates.

Honestly I think you're good to go. Just keep an eye on things for a while .

 

[shynepo3]

i'll do...thanks for the words of encouragement

 

[jsoong]

Agree with the assessment provided. 0,0,0 is good. Since you have changed out everything, all the nitrates is gone. It is going to take a week or 2 for it to build up. Although the presence of nitrates indicates a cycled tank, you don't need it (unless you are growing plants.) If your NH3 & NO2 stays zero, your tank is retaining the cycle. With a single betta, it is going to take days to see any rise, if at all. So you just have to be patient, test everyday for the next week or so, and you will have your answer.

Meanwhile, it is OK to do pwc. It is not going to harm anything. Although pwc will dilute out any buildup of waste so you will have longer to wait for your result (of whether the tank retained its cycle or not).

 

[shynepo3]

Thanks jsoong.'his fin rot doesn't seem to be getting
Better,'not worse either, so I'll be doing daily pwc. I'm under the assumption that if the tank is still cycled,'it won't affect it. It'll just
Take longer for nitrates
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