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big911dog
Guest
well three months does sound a little long for the cycle to continue, but then i thought OJ was guilty, so what do i know...
Ammonia ?
- Thread starter obarrera
- Start date
blennyluv
Member
Originally posted by obarrera
So my damn tank could still be cycling?
I've been doing about 12% water changes every week that's why I don't understand why I have ammonia,and I know my bioload is not that big.
water changed while your tank is cycling just prolong the cycle, that could be why it is taking so long!
obarrera
Member
Originally posted by DSkidmore
If your tank is cycled, then the remaining sources of ammonia are:
1) overfeeding
2) oversocking
3) something died
Any one of the three sound likely?
No
The fish that died didn't even lasted 3 hours in the tank dead,I took them out right after they died.I only left 1 in there cause my emerald grab it and ate it all.
dskidmore
Active Member
I didn't see a mention, do you have any live rock or live sand? If you didn't have anything to boost your benificial bactiera levels, that would explain taking forever to fully cycle. If you don't have live rock or live sand, try getting a dirty filter cartridge or gravel from someone with a mature tank, or from your LFS tanks. Plants/macroalgae can also carry benificial bacteria, as well as process some of the ammonia themselves.
obarrera
Member
Originally posted by DSkidmore
I didn't see a mention, do you have any live rock or live sand? If you didn't have anything to boost your benificial bactiera levels, that would explain taking forever to fully cycle. If you don't have live rock or live sand, try getting a dirty filter cartridge or gravel from someone with a mature tank, or from your LFS tanks. Plants/macroalgae can also carry benificial bacteria, as well as process some of the ammonia themselves.
I only have about 7 lbs of live rock(I should get more pretty soon).
I didn't buy live sand,I bought 15lbs of aragonite sand my friend gave me some of his sand to mix with mine.
dskidmore
Active Member
Originally posted by obarrera
I didn't buy live sand,I bought 15lbs of aragonite sand my friend gave me some of his sand to mix with mine.
:notsure: Sounds right... Are you still having problems with ammonia, or is it going away? A temporary spike could be something in the live rock dying, but a long term problem with ammonia has to be something else.
Have you tried testing your source of NSW? It should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, undetectable nitrate.
obarrera
Member
Originally posted by DSkidmore
:notsure: Sounds right... Are you still having problems with ammonia, or is it going away? A temporary spike could be something in the live rock dying, but a long term problem with ammonia has to be something else.
Have you tried testing your source of NSW? It should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, undetectable nitrate.
Im not sure if I still have ammonia,I bought a damsel on sunday and it's still doing great.I have never tested the NSW before adding it to the tank but other reefers have and nothing it's wrong with it.
When my friend tested the water at the LFS the ammonia wasn't appearing but then they added some pill and it showed up.I hope something on the live rock just died and it's not a long term problem.
obarrera
Member
Originally posted by ryand
cant you just get some stuff that you can put in your filters that will help get rid of the ammonia or is there some kind of sponge or clam or something that can do the trick
I got a little catridge that has carbon in it.
But I don't think it will get rid of ammonia it will just help I guess.:thinking:
belothsurf
Member
You know, after going back and reading this thread, I never thought to ask the size of your tank. Are we talking about a 10 gallon tank?
If so, yeah, I guess it's possible you prolonged your cycle by starting water changes that early. In a nano tank, the smallest of changes can have huge effects. Most of the bacteria that break down ammonia are in the water, sand and live rock, so when you change water, you take out some of the bacteria.
There are some chemicals that neutralize ammonia, and break it down into another form of ammonia, but it still takes bacteria to eat the that. All water changes do is dilute the concentration of ammonia. All the different types of filters and types of ammonia sponges, nitrate sponges, phosphorous sponges etc, etc, that claim to reduce those chemicals do is provide another medium for the bacteria to grow in, and their real effectiveness has been questioned enough to make me think they don't work.
Also, what is your acclimation method? If you don't acclimate them correctly, that can kill a fish quickly. A little bit of ammonia doesn't kill fish, it just stresses them.
Go Cocks!!!!!
If so, yeah, I guess it's possible you prolonged your cycle by starting water changes that early. In a nano tank, the smallest of changes can have huge effects. Most of the bacteria that break down ammonia are in the water, sand and live rock, so when you change water, you take out some of the bacteria.
There are some chemicals that neutralize ammonia, and break it down into another form of ammonia, but it still takes bacteria to eat the that. All water changes do is dilute the concentration of ammonia. All the different types of filters and types of ammonia sponges, nitrate sponges, phosphorous sponges etc, etc, that claim to reduce those chemicals do is provide another medium for the bacteria to grow in, and their real effectiveness has been questioned enough to make me think they don't work.
Also, what is your acclimation method? If you don't acclimate them correctly, that can kill a fish quickly. A little bit of ammonia doesn't kill fish, it just stresses them.
Go Cocks!!!!!
obarrera
Member
Yes is a 10 gallon tank.I just got 9 more lbs of live rock too so now I have around 17lbs.
At first I was acclimating my fish the normal way,15 mins floating with bag close and after that add a cup of tank water like every 4 minutes and they all died that way.Then I bought a devil damsel on september 26 and acclimate him using the dripping method and today is still alive.
At first I was acclimating my fish the normal way,15 mins floating with bag close and after that add a cup of tank water like every 4 minutes and they all died that way.Then I bought a devil damsel on september 26 and acclimate him using the dripping method and today is still alive.