Ammonia!

[atlfish]

I started my cycling about 5 weeks ago. All my other levels are perfect except my ammoinia is too high 1.0 (was higher. ) It went down at one point so I thought my cycling was done. I threw in three Damsels and a crab which seem to be doing pretty well. However, my ammonia level went back up! I got a 180 gal tank about 30-40 lbs of LR( I know I need more). So what do I do. Just wait it out. Is algea growth on the glass a good sign? Im not use to dealing with a tank this big so it's like starting all over seems like.

 

[cain420]

i would get at least 100 more lbs of live rock for that tank.. the ammonia went up as a result of the bio-load that you added. The 30-40lbs that u have in there will not house enough bacteria for your biological filtration to be effective enough. There is no need to start over, however you could return the fish to the lfs. you should have a min. of 1lb of live rock per gallon.

 

[dogstar]

Not clear to me if your tank has yet compleated its cycle. You said all other levels are perfect BUT did you get a rise and fall of nitrites and then a rise in nitrates ?
This has to happen and and be able to remain stable as ammonia and nitrites stay nearly undetectable as nitrate rises and then you remove the nitrates by doing water changes. As you maintain a small bioload by feeding small amounts or haveing a few fish to feed.
As I said, its not clear to me if your tank has yet gone thru the compleated cycle. if not then as cain said you may wish to return the fish and wait for the cycle to finish.

 

[atlfish]

So your saying all I need is More live rock? I didn't add the three damsels all at once. I added one, then a week later I added the others. I can'nt return them because they are from my old tank which I sold. Im starting to think that the level never really went down due to I didn't wait long enough for the color to change in the test tube. The lfS guy said at least 15-20 minutes. So that was my mistake. I have also been feeding the tank as well.

 

[atlfish]

Originally Posted by Dogstar
Not clear to me if your tank has yet compleated its cycle. You said all other levels are perfect BUT did you get a rise and fall of nitrites and then a rise in nitrates ?
This has to happen and and be able to remain stable as ammonia and nitrites stay nearly undetectable as nitrate rises and then you remove the nitrates by doing water changes. As you maintain a small bioload by feeding small amounts or haveing a few fish to feed.
As I said, its not clear to me if your tank has yet gone thru the compleated cycle. if not then as cain said you may wish to return the fish and wait for the cycle to finish.
No the Nitrates and nitates were always 0. I even did water changes. I took all my water out of my old 55 gal. tank and put it in the new one thinking that would help but it did'nt.
the only problem Im having is getting rid of the ammonia.

 

[dogstar]

I agree you could use more live rock but that depends on what you want your tank to eventualy be like or what kind of filtration you have now.
Im not say that the levels of your test need to rise and fall because you did not do it right ( but is important to do the test correctly ) Im saying that over the days and weeks that your test ( done correctly ) should show the levels of ammonia and nitrites in the tank water rise and fall and nitrates rising.

 

[atlfish]

I understand. I just need to know besides the life rock is there anything else I can do to correct this situation. It's not like I can go just drop 600 bucks on some live rock if you get what I mean. I was planing to get get some base and make it live. ( the cheepy way)

The LFS guys said as long as the fish are not showing any signs of stress just ride it out. Not sure if that wa good advise or not.

 

[dogstar]

Originally Posted by Dogstar
As I said, its not clear to me if your tank has yet gone thru the compleated cycle. .

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by AtlFish
No the Nitrates and nitates were always 0. I even did water changes. I took all my water out of my old 55 gal. tank and put it in the new one thinking that would help but it did'nt.
the only problem Im having is getting rid of the ammonia.
By using your old tank water will not help since your going to a wayyyyy bigger tank. I want a tank that size!!

Your cycling isn't done properly, was those cured live rocks you put in there? If so, insufficient amount was being put in. That's why your having to deal with Ammonia right now. There wasn't enough die offs for the ammonia to do a kick start in the beginning if you use the rocks you had in the 55, most likely cured right? Best thing for you to do right now is either add in more live rocks or toss a few raw shrimp in there to jump start. Remove those fish into a QT tank for now. Then just wait and see what happens!! :happyfish

 

[atlfish]

Originally Posted by Mikeyjer
By using your old tank water will not help since your going to a wayyyyy bigger tank. I want a tank that size!!

Your cycling isn't done properly, was those cured live rocks you put in there? If so, insufficient amount was being put in. That's why your having to deal with Ammonia right now. There wasn't enough die offs for the ammonia to do a kick start in the beginning if you use the rocks you had in the 55, most likely cured right? Best thing for you to do right now is either add in more live rocks or toss a few raw shrimp in there to jump start. Remove those fish into a QT tank for now. Then just wait and see what happens!! :happyfish
I did just that. Actually I started with the shrimp method. Im happy to say that I test my water last friday and the levels are looking much better. Even though it was not done on purpose I think the addition of the fish and live rock helped. Im going to test it again today a see what the levels look Like. By the way if you knew How I got this tank you would be sick! look at my thread deal of the century. I gota post knew pics so that everyone can see my progress.

 

[mikeyjer]

Originally Posted by AtlFish
I did just that. Actually I started with the shrimp method. Im happy to say that I test my water last friday and the levels are looking much better. Even though it was not done on purpose I think the addition of the fish and live rock helped. Im going to test it again today a see what the levels look Like. By the way if you knew How I got this tank you would be sick! look at my thread deal of the century. I gota post knew pics so that everyone can see my progress.
Yes I actually remember reading that thread....Lucky you!!!

Do post pictures!!! I would love to see'em!! :happyfish