Cycling help... Ammonia doesn't drop to 0

[Kishore]

Hi,

I bought a 200 liters aquarium last month and began my fishless cycle on 20/4(date is in DD/MM). I bought my ammonia from chemical dealer and I think it is pure ammonia(which some people say would delay the cycle??). 1 ml of it raises the ammonia reading by 1 ppm roughly.

I dosed it till 4 ppm.The ammonia first started to drop a couple days later. It reduced by half. . It has been going well. But I went on a short family trip on the first week of May. I tested when I left, ammonia was at 0.5 ppm and then I added 3 ml of my pure ammonia. So it would have been around 4 ppm then.

I returned and found that it had dropped to 0.25 ppm. Not zero. I thought that since there was no light and no addition of fish food for nutrients and stuff for a whole week, so maybe it hadn't dropped to zero. I then continued with my routine and never saw it drop to 0. Always 0.25 ppm or 0.5 ppm. And then i dose it back to 4 ppm again. This has been continuing. My recent test was on 13 May at 10.15 pm.
Ammo - 1 ppm
Nitrates - 0 ppm

This was the exact result yesterday too. For now, I dosed around 2.5 ml, so ammonia should now be around 4 ppm. I am worried what might be the cause of my ammo not dropping to 0?

 

[Delapool]

Would be worth checking tap water just to see if you can get a 0 reading. Some of mine took a while to go from 0.25 down to 0 (just seemed to linger but eventually came good). Worth checking nitrites to see what you have with all that ammonia going in

 

[Kishore]

Would be worth checking tap water just to see if you can get a 0 reading. Some of mine took a while to go from 0.25 down to 0 (just seemed to linger but eventually came good). Worth checking nitrites to see what you have with all that ammonia going in

I checked my tap water few days ago and it showed 0.25 ppm. What's wrong here?

If your tap/water change water has a .25PPM Ammonia reading, it is not a big deal, IF your dechlorinator can convert true Ammonia, or maybe even better Ammonium into a non toxic form which your GOOD bacteria can easily consume.

Most tap water that tests positive for Ammonia, is actually Ammonium, which is non toxic to your fish.

A guy said this on another website. Can it be applicable on my case? So, is my water safe for my fish?

 

[Delapool]

I'd say either your tap water has ammonia or your test kit is not truly reading 0 or it can be hard to tell under some lights.


Would try testing on bottled water. Something that should have no ammonia. Make sure you are doing the test exactly as written. Is it the API freshwater test kit?


The other website is kind of correct but a little messy. I'll see if I can find a link tonight as it depends on PH. So as well as checking nitrites, I'd also get a ph reading on tank water and on tap water. The higher the ph, the more toxic ammonia is basically.

 

[Delapool]

Link on ph and ammonia.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

Seachem - Prime

 

[Barliman]

Link on ph and ammonia.

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f12/your-guide-to-ammonia-toxicity-159994.html

Seachem - Prime

That's a handy article on ammonia toxicity. It should be posted in the articles section.