Base Rock?? And Cycling??

[snailheave]

 

[aredmon]

The only fish store I have been able to find is *****. Do they test water? If not then does anybody know of any lfs inbetween St. Louis Mo & Springfield IL?

 

[jdragunas]

yes, my ***** does, anyway!

 

[snailheave]

don't use strips

 

[aredmon]

Do you think the test from this web sight are good?

 

[snailheave]

a lot of people here are going to recommend a test kit that's insanely expensive to you. i think that's ridiculous. i use The Saltwater Master Liquid Test Kit, plus a kit for calcium and a kit for phosphate. if you're not keeping corals, the first big kit should be just fine.

 

[danedodger]

My ***** tests water for free but they do use the test strips.

 

[aredmon]

I think I am going to just invest in a single ammonia test kit then if it reads different form mine I am going to get a whole new master test kit.

 

[aredmon]

The test kit I have is by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. If this helps any

 

[jdragunas]

that's the one i have for ammonia too. i haven't ever had a problem with it. I hope everything works out for you! My suggestion: phantom feed your tank, or add a large coctail shrimp to get your ammonia up.
Jenn

 

[snailheave]

that's what i use.

 

[airforceb2]

I use Aquarium Pharmaceuticals and it works great. I do use Salifert for my nitrates because it is a lot more accurate.
As for the base rock. I have 35lbs of it in my tank and I love it. It came from Utah and hasn't messed with my levels at all. I have a couple HH feather dusters that have migrated to the base rock already. I would highly encourage getting the base rock as it is a lot cheaper.
Another thing to keep in mind...your water parameters will get outta whack if you try taking them somewhere else for a test. If your LFS is over an hour away, the test results will be false. I would just put a little LR in the tank for now and let the bacteria from the rocks break down the ammonia.

 

[danedodger]

You could also try adding Biozyme, Cycle, or another product designed to help kickstart beneficial bacteria growth.

 

[snailheave]

cycle contains the wrong kind of bacteria

 

[aredmon]

So you guys don't think it is my tests? Someone told me that 1.0 is enough to start growing the bacteria I need. So You all think it needs to be higher? I have a75g tank. Does it make a difference if your tank is larger or smaller when it comes to cycle time. I still figured the ammonia would have started to change by now. on 10/12 it will be 4 weeks that my tank has been cycling.

 

[aredmon]

Well i found some biozyme. I heard some people give negitive feed about it. Do you think I should give it a try?

 

[jdragunas]

don't add anything unnatural or chemical to your tank... add a cocktail shrimp instead...

 

[snailheave]

so... the level never rose?
the 1.0 reading in ammonia could be the result of how you read the color thing.
add half a shrimp in it

 

[aredmon]

I will try that first. It is funny because i was telling my husband that I was glad ammonia was already present in the tank because I would have to put dead shrimp in there to get it. He was realy grossed out about that thought.

So the ammonia leval needs to be more than 1.0 to grow the bacteria? I will ge getting a little bit of lr today or tomarow. Will that raise the ammonia leval due to die off?

 

[snailheave]

any level above 0 should, as the cycling process is continuing long after the initial set up. i was just speculating that the 1.0 reading you see could be really 0 and your tank hasn't really kicked in.
to ensure die-off, that is to be certain to kill something on that lr you prepare to put in. rinse it with freshwater before putting it in.