Cycling a tank - Ammonia stays at 0.25 and Nitrates are 0ppm ? Input needed !!

[melvinakshay]

I started cycling a 150 gallon saltwater tank with uncured live rock and a damsel fish about 15 days ago. I've been testing for Ammonia everyday. The Ammonia was a constant 8ppm for about 10 days.. After that I turned off the protien skimmer and added bio spira. The very next day I had traces of Nitrites and the ammonia went down from 8ppm to 0.25ppm in 3 days. The nitrites sky rocked to 5ppm and fell down to 0 yesterday. Now my question is that the Ammonia stays at 0.25ppm(4 days in a row). Is this normal ? How long will I have to wait until it turns 0 ? Btw I just added one damsel fish.
The other odd thing is that the Nitrates were 20ppm(3 days ago) and I turned back the protein skimmer on. One day later -the Nitrates were at 0ppm. (they are still at 0 today) How is this possible ? Does a skimmer remove nitrates ? I can't think of any other cause other than the skimmer.


So is my tank cycled ?

 

[melvinakshay]

Just a heads up - I used about 80% tap water(conditioned with prime) and 20% RO on the first day. I was sick and tired of my RO system generating 20 gallons a day.

I did a partial 20% water change with the RO water before adding bio spira(on the 10th day) and have been topping off the water with RO every 2 days( I guess thats about 15 gallons of RO).

Can the original tap water be the culprit ? btw, the tap water has 1ppm of Ammonia.

 

[geridoc]

What kits are you using? I have never gotten a positive reading for ammonia on tap water, so I'm guessing that you are getting a false positive. It does sound like your tank has cycled, but this early you want to be sure to add organisms slowly so the tank has a chance to adapt. You might also want to consider the possibility that your nitrate kit is also in error. Take a sample to your lfs for a check. Now...about those damsels. How do you propose to remove them, or do you intend to let them rule the tank? They become very aggressive, which is why it is strongly recommended that they not be used to cycle a tank.

 

[silverado61]

Question: By tap water, do you mean city water or well water? If it's a well, is it a drilled/punched well or a dug well?

If it's a dug well, it's possible to have ammonia due to parasites and/or bacteria. Twenty years ago, I was buying a house that had a dug well in a very small town. When I had the well inspected, they shut it down because it had ammonia and bacteria that was "off the charts" as he put it. He ended up shocking it with about 6 gallons of pool grade chlorine. A week later he tested it again and opened it back up, with reservations, and I bought the house.

Needless to say, I put in a RO system and still used bottled water for drinking and cooking. I've since sold the house.

............... Just a thought.

 

[melvinakshay]

I use the API test kit. I did compare the test kit with the RO water and it is a perfect 0. Right now its still at 0.25ppm. I just checked the water parameters today. 0.25ppm Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites are still at 0. I also added a couple of fish and a few inverts. I get city water (don't have a well). The lake michigan water I get is pretty decent but I don't use it for drinking. I did use that water for my freshwater setup and never had issues.(those fish were pretty hardy anyway)



I do like the damsels. Initially I just bought the damsel to help with cycling the tank - then I bought another one on sale. They surely are aggressive but they are the smallest fish in my tank at the moment. I think with their bright rich blue color they are certainly gorgeous. I've currently got a regal blue tang and a powder blue tang which are at a decent size along with a couple of clownfish in there. I have a purple tang currently in my quarantine tank.

Everything looks hale and healthy. I just noticed a diatom bloom today.
Still can't figure out why my ammonia wont go down nor the nitrate go up I will take a sample over to ***** tomorrow. I intend to buy 2 more fish before I add my purple tang to the main display. (looking at a fox face/yellow tang and maybe a butterfly fish(the one that looks like the moorish idol). I'm not sure if the butterfly fish will target my inverts.

 

[silverado61]

I think it was either bangguy or geridoc that said that API only tests for a certain type of ammonia which will give you a false positive. Send them a PM and they can explain it better. I was having the same problem and that's why I switched to a different test kit. Ask ***** what test kit they use first. I've only seen API on their shelves so I can't see them using a test kit that they don't sell.

 

[flower]

Quote:
Originally Posted by melvinakshay http:///t/396825/cycling-a-tank-ammonia-stays-at-0-25-and-nitrates-are-0ppm-input-needed#post_3535837
I use the API test kit. I did compare the test kit with the RO water and it is a perfect 0. Right now its still at 0.25ppm. I just checked the water parameters today. 0.25ppm Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitrites are still at 0. I also added a couple of fish and a few inverts. I get city water (don't have a well). The lake michigan water I get is pretty decent but I don't use it for drinking. I did use that water for my freshwater setup and never had issues.(those fish were pretty hardy anyway)



I do like the damsels. Initially I just bought the damsel to help with cycling the tank - then I bought another one on sale. They surely are aggressive but they are the smallest fish in my tank at the moment. I think with their bright rich blue color they are certainly gorgeous. I've currently got a regal blue tang and a powder blue tang which are at a decent size along with a couple of clownfish in there. I have a purple tang currently in my quarantine tank.

Everything looks hale and healthy. I just noticed a diatom bloom today.
Still can't figure out why my ammonia wont go down nor the nitrate go up I will take a sample over to ***** tomorrow. I intend to buy 2 more fish before I add my purple tang to the main display. (looking at a fox face/yellow tang and maybe a butterfly fish(the one that looks like the moorish idol). I'm not sure if the butterfly fish will target my inverts.

Hi,

I personally don't care for the API kits, I went to SeaChem because it comes with a regent to be able to double check the results, and the tests are easier to do. The tap water has nothing to do with your ammonia or nitrates, but as you do your water changes using your RO, the water quality will improve and that will take care any algae issues...the brown stuff usually goes away on it's own on new systems.

Damsels will kill any fish less timid them themselves, I agree they are drop dead beautiful, but don't let their pint size fool you. The tangs are constant swimmers, and that means they wonder to the damsels turf, and they will kill the tang no matter how big it is. Right now they are juveniles and not much trouble, but when the damsels mature they get so mean they will bite your hand drawing blood when you put it in the tank. The powder blue, butterfly, and Regal are all too timid to hold their own with damsels, they will also fight each other to the death unless you lucked out and got a male and female that become mates.

As far as I know the Butterflyfish are known for picking at corals, they are safe with your CUC (Clean up crew = inverts such as snails and hermit crabs) shrimp may be in danger.