water testing confusing

[clownbuddies]

I have been cycling my tank for 3 weeks with LR. All my levels are 0 except I have a little bit of ammonia. I don't have quite .25 but I don't have 0 either. Why is this? Do I just need to do a water change. Or will it eventually go away. Please tell me it isn't going to cycle again. Is it ok to put fish in with that small amount of ammonia? I wouldn't think so, from what I have read.

 

[ophiura]

Are you using a home kit? The first thing I would do is get a reading using a different test kit...either take a sample to your LFS, or take a sample to a different LFS, or invest in a quality test kit for home (highly recommended....but don't get the cheapest).

 

[clownbuddies]

I am using a home test kit. Which is a good home test kit?

 

[ophiura]

There are a couple of good one's....you can search around for who likes what. But definitely take a water sample into your LFS and see if they find anything. Some test kits can show residual amounts of ammonia (.25 is a classic sign of this) when there isn't any.
But if there is, yes, it is not a good idea to get fish...it means the biofilter is not fully established, and adding fish will only mean more ammonia.