Ammonia Spike
- Thread starter cushen123
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carshark
Active Member
Originally Posted by cushen123
How long does it usally take for you cycle to kick into gear?? I'm at day 5and my ammonia hasn't mooved, still at .25. should it be spiking soon????
well .25 it is cycling unless your water supply had that ammonia already in it..what kind of water are you using? and what are you using to kickstart the cycle?
How long does it usally take for you cycle to kick into gear?? I'm at day 5and my ammonia hasn't mooved, still at .25. should it be spiking soon????
well .25 it is cycling unless your water supply had that ammonia already in it..what kind of water are you using? and what are you using to kickstart the cycle?
carshark
Active Member
Please do me a favor and take that damsel back to the LFS especially with your ammonia reaching levels. put in a raw shrimp from the grocery store, and once you see the nitrates, nitrites, ammonia etc spike up remove the shrimp, and let nature take its course, and Live sand is ok......see if you can find some really really cured nice Live rock and try to seed your base rock.....please take the damsel back it is very bad for a fish during the cycle process....
ppm411
Member
I'm in the same boat as you. Ammonia is still at .25 (could closer to 0 the way the color chart on the tester looks). However, my trates went up to 160 on the 7th and 8th days and today they are back down to 40. Trites went up to 6 on the 6th day and are holding. 30 gallon tank with base rock, live sand and 3 yellow tail damsels (shhh). My dilemma now is that the salinity dropped but I don't want to do a water change and lengthen the cycle. It went from 1.019 to 1.017 because I had to add fresh water to top the tank off (I think). What to do what to do..
carshark
Active Member
Originally Posted by ppm411
I'm in the same boat as you. Ammonia is still at .25 (could closer to 0 the way the color chart on the tester looks). However, my trates went up to 160 on the 7th and 8th days and today they are back down to 40. Trites went up to 6 on the 6th day and are holding. 30 gallon tank with base rock, live sand and 3 yellow tail damsels (shhh). My dilemma now is that the salinity dropped but I don't want to do a water change and lengthen the cycle. It went from 1.019 to 1.017 because I had to add fresh water to top the tank off (I think). What to do what to do..
hmm in a 30 gallon, you would have had to added about 3 gallons of water to drop it to 1.017 from 1.019 and also what are you using to test your salinity???
I have said my piece over and over again about cycling with fish so Ill leave it alone, apparently you know right from wrong....but you dont seem to care lol, its your business...
I'm in the same boat as you. Ammonia is still at .25 (could closer to 0 the way the color chart on the tester looks). However, my trates went up to 160 on the 7th and 8th days and today they are back down to 40. Trites went up to 6 on the 6th day and are holding. 30 gallon tank with base rock, live sand and 3 yellow tail damsels (shhh). My dilemma now is that the salinity dropped but I don't want to do a water change and lengthen the cycle. It went from 1.019 to 1.017 because I had to add fresh water to top the tank off (I think). What to do what to do..
hmm in a 30 gallon, you would have had to added about 3 gallons of water to drop it to 1.017 from 1.019 and also what are you using to test your salinity???
I have said my piece over and over again about cycling with fish so Ill leave it alone, apparently you know right from wrong....but you dont seem to care lol, its your business...
S
sinner's girl
Guest
. It went from 1.019 to 1.017 because I had to add fresh water to top the tank off (I think). What to do what to do.
Then you added too much top off water. Just mix some saltwater and add it. I don't see the problem? Why would you need to do a water change to raise the sg? When adding top off water, just add enough to bring sg back to where it was. I add 1 gl every two days or so in my 75gl. You'll figure it out once you have the tank for a bit.
hydrometers suck. What brand? My was WAY off, danger level off, if I had kept adding salt water to the tank. Have the lfs test your water with a refractormeter so you can know how much (if any) yours is off.
Also, what test kit are you using? Some give the am at .25 even if it is at zero, just a thought.
my trates went up to 160 on the 7th and 8th days and today they are back down to 40.
I think you're mixed up. Nirtrates don't go down unless you do a water change. the nitrites go down....
also, doing small water changes will delay the cycle, but may help the fish live.
Then you added too much top off water. Just mix some saltwater and add it. I don't see the problem? Why would you need to do a water change to raise the sg? When adding top off water, just add enough to bring sg back to where it was. I add 1 gl every two days or so in my 75gl. You'll figure it out once you have the tank for a bit.
hydrometers suck. What brand? My was WAY off, danger level off, if I had kept adding salt water to the tank. Have the lfs test your water with a refractormeter so you can know how much (if any) yours is off.
Also, what test kit are you using? Some give the am at .25 even if it is at zero, just a thought.
my trates went up to 160 on the 7th and 8th days and today they are back down to 40.
I think you're mixed up. Nirtrates don't go down unless you do a water change. the nitrites go down....
also, doing small water changes will delay the cycle, but may help the fish live.
carshark
Active Member
sinner is right. also until you can get a refractometer, which you should be ordering today
, grab some white vinegar and dip and shake and rinse your hydrometer, that will help temporarily , and the LFS should have a refract. bring in your hydrometer and compare your reading to theirs, that way you can sort of gauge how off your readings are. could be small, my guess is much bigger...mine was off almost .002.....
also think of this another way you have a 30 gal...you added 3 gallons of freshwater, thats 10%!!!!! with nothing in there i.e. substrate, thickness of glass, rock. so really you have less than 30 gal of water, if you have to top off 3 gallons of water, check for leaks......
also think of this another way you have a 30 gal...you added 3 gallons of freshwater, thats 10%!!!!! with nothing in there i.e. substrate, thickness of glass, rock. so really you have less than 30 gal of water, if you have to top off 3 gallons of water, check for leaks......
ppm411
Member
I should have explained that I was topping off the tank after setting it up for the first time. Initially I only filled the tank 3/4 of the way because I wasn't sure what the displacement was going to be. I only had a one gallon container on hand and wanted to let the water aerate for 24hrs. hence 3 gallons of fresh water over the course of 3 days. From here I'll see how much concentrated mixture I can fit in and hopefully get the salinity up.
I have a Marineland Hydrometer. Thanks for the advice. A refractometer is on the grocery list.
The test kit is Saltwater Master, made by Aquarium Pharm. Darn colors annoy me. For some reason the trates did go up to 160 for 2 days and are now back down to 40. Maybe it was a bad test. I should probably use the same vials for each test. trites are still holding at 5 for the last 5 days. Appears normal besides the questionable trate spike.
I have a Marineland Hydrometer. Thanks for the advice. A refractometer is on the grocery list.
The test kit is Saltwater Master, made by Aquarium Pharm. Darn colors annoy me. For some reason the trates did go up to 160 for 2 days and are now back down to 40. Maybe it was a bad test. I should probably use the same vials for each test. trites are still holding at 5 for the last 5 days. Appears normal besides the questionable trate spike.
carshark
Active Member
Originally Posted by ppm411
I should have explained that I was topping off the tank after setting it up for the first time. Initially I only filled the tank 3/4 of the way because I wasn't sure what the displacement was going to be. I only had a one gallon container on hand and wanted to let the water aerate for 24hrs. hence 3 gallons of fresh water over the course of 3 days. From here I'll see how much concentrated mixture I can fit in and hopefully get the salinity up.
I have a Marineland Hydrometer. Thanks for the advice. A refractometer is on the grocery list.
The test kit is Saltwater Master, made by Aquarium Pharm. Darn colors annoy me. For some reason the trates did go up to 160 for 2 days and are now back down to 40. Maybe it was a bad test. I should probably use the same vials for each test. trites are still holding at 5 for the last 5 days. Appears normal besides the questionable trate spike.
this may help. I wash each test tube with fresh tap water, and then before i do each test i get some tank water and rinse it out then fill it with the proper amount of water to do each test..Im thinkin you had a bad test as well as some residue from the last test still in the tube..
also I recommend getting the water from at least the center of the tank not on the top...use an eye dropper, or cover the end of the tube till you get to the middle of the tank and let go and it will fill up from there..
I should have explained that I was topping off the tank after setting it up for the first time. Initially I only filled the tank 3/4 of the way because I wasn't sure what the displacement was going to be. I only had a one gallon container on hand and wanted to let the water aerate for 24hrs. hence 3 gallons of fresh water over the course of 3 days. From here I'll see how much concentrated mixture I can fit in and hopefully get the salinity up.
I have a Marineland Hydrometer. Thanks for the advice. A refractometer is on the grocery list.
The test kit is Saltwater Master, made by Aquarium Pharm. Darn colors annoy me. For some reason the trates did go up to 160 for 2 days and are now back down to 40. Maybe it was a bad test. I should probably use the same vials for each test. trites are still holding at 5 for the last 5 days. Appears normal besides the questionable trate spike.
this may help. I wash each test tube with fresh tap water, and then before i do each test i get some tank water and rinse it out then fill it with the proper amount of water to do each test..Im thinkin you had a bad test as well as some residue from the last test still in the tube..
also I recommend getting the water from at least the center of the tank not on the top...use an eye dropper, or cover the end of the tube till you get to the middle of the tank and let go and it will fill up from there..
mikeyjer
Active Member
Originally Posted by carshark
Please do me a favor and take that damsel back to the LFS especially with your ammonia reaching levels. put in a raw shrimp from the grocery store, and once you see the nitrates, nitrites, ammonia etc spike up remove the shrimp, and let nature take its course, and Live sand is ok......see if you can find some really really cured nice Live rock and try to seed your base rock.....please take the damsel back it is very bad for a fish during the cycle process....
I do agree on taking back the damsel, but like I've mentioned before in another thread you were in. I've read in another thread about not using raw shrimp to cycle your tank. They suggested in using uncured live rock to cycle your tank. And a lot of people would agree with this. Be patient for your tank to cycle, if you don't have patience now, what would happen later? Just my thought!!! Good Luck!
Please do me a favor and take that damsel back to the LFS especially with your ammonia reaching levels. put in a raw shrimp from the grocery store, and once you see the nitrates, nitrites, ammonia etc spike up remove the shrimp, and let nature take its course, and Live sand is ok......see if you can find some really really cured nice Live rock and try to seed your base rock.....please take the damsel back it is very bad for a fish during the cycle process....
I do agree on taking back the damsel, but like I've mentioned before in another thread you were in. I've read in another thread about not using raw shrimp to cycle your tank. They suggested in using uncured live rock to cycle your tank. And a lot of people would agree with this. Be patient for your tank to cycle, if you don't have patience now, what would happen later? Just my thought!!! Good Luck!