025 Ammonia

[mellowyellow]

Help. 30 gal. saltwater tank with FOLR, cycling I hope. I can't seem to get my ammonia down below 025. All other numbers are great. I've tested both my well water and spring water before and after adding salt. The water seems to stick at 025 after salted and before I put the water in the tank. Could the testing chemicals be the problem? The ammonia has gone up and I've used chemicals to reduce it but can't break the 025 barrier. I'm doing weekly water changes. Any ideas. What can I do to end this cycling madness. It's been 8 weeks. Oh, I also have a very happy Foxface alone in the tank, two stars and snails. If I have to start over again can I leave them in the tank?

 

[melosu58]

Maybe get your LFS to check a sample to double check.

 

[milhous3er]

So your ammonia is at .25ppm before you put the water into the tank ?? So you mix up your water and salt. You test it and it reads .25ppm ammonia ??

 

[Crepe]

Check the water right of the tap or it may be time to replace your RO membrane.

 

[cmor1701d]

And try a different test kit. Is yours dated with an expiration date? If not, get another kit and have your lfs test a sample.

 

[Ziggy953]

I agree on all counts above!

Something is not jiving right.

 

[mellowyellow]

cmor1701d: I went shopping at my LFS yesterday and bought a new API testing kit. Came home did another 50% water change. I did a 40% change two days earlier. That evening after I was sure the newly added water had circulated.. Voila...with the new kit I checked everything. Guess what. All parameters registered perfectly. Checked the water again this morning and got the same great numbers. Hopefully, the SW tank is cycled. If the numbers hold through the weekend, I'll add a couple new fish next week. Wish me luck.

 

[mellowyellow]

I've done that. If you view cmor170d you'll see that things are getting better. I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Thanks for your reply.

 

[cmor1701d]

What are your nitrite and nitrate readings?
Until Nitrite is ZERO and nitrate his risen you have not cycled the tank.
Both ammonia and nitrite are toxic to fish. They can tolerate low to moderate levels (10 - 50 ppm) of nitrate.

Good luck.

 

[mr_X]

also, i think weekly water changes(during a cycle) would be slowing down the cycling process.

 

[thominil]

It doesn't matter if you slow the cycle, if you cycle with fish and you have readable signs of ammonia or nitrite, you change water. Not doing so poses health risks to the fish, and we don't want that.

 

[mr_X]

i didn't read to the end to see that there were fish in the tank. i'd remove all livestock until the cycle is over.
what kind of starfish are these?

 

[mellowyellow]

Dear cmor1701d:
Here are my readings for the last three days. Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, Nitrate 10 and PH 8.4. I'm now getting excited and want to add a couple fishes. My husband wants to get 4 blue/green cromis. If they're not available at my lfs, where we have a lot of confidence, we'll probably go for a Clown, perhaps an Assesser and a blenny. Don't want to overwhelm the system. What do you think?

 

[cmor1701d]

OK, that seems like the tank has cycled. Now you need to do a 30% water change, wait a week, and test again.
You already have a Foxface in there, correct?
What other livestock?
How much LR if any?
What is your substrate and how deep is it?

I reccomemnd adding no more than 1 or 2 fish per month (30 days apart) to allow the biological filter time to accomodate the higher load.

 

[nxb161]

Also beware the number of fish you put in the 30G. SW tanks are not as forgiving as FW w/ over crowding. I have a chromis in my 29G and really like it, but would not want it to be an all chromis tank. I have a chromis, a percula clown, royal gramma, and sixline wrasse. I'd like more fish, but realize I'd be risking the whole tank by adding more. (that is why I started my 38G)

 

[mellowyellow]

Dear Mr. X all my numbers are now excellant. Everything has jived four days now. A new testing API kit did the trick. I'll looking to add fish tomorrow. Only a couple. Thanks for your reply to my previous thread.