Ammonia isn’t coming down

[Iconicjellyfish]

Hello fellow reefers! I’m cycling a 48gallon tank with a 14 gallon sump. I’m brand new to salt water aquariums. When I went to my local fish store to get my tank I got everything I needed in a kit from aquatop. I had the guy show me everything I need and long story short for two weeks I wasn’t adding ammonia (because I wasn’t told to or given a bottle when I got everything I needed) or didn’t have any fish in the tank and I didn’t read the bottle of bacteria to add bacteria everyday. I got impatient and got a clown fish and a goby at about the 2 week mark. The goby ended up jumping out because I had no lid. But the clownfish is still with me to this day. At about a month the ammonia level was at 1 and nothing else was showing up I’m really surprised the clown survived this far. So I called my LFS and asked them what to do and we came to the conclusion of I wasn’t adding bacteria at all other then when filling the tank up, so I started adding bacteria and got the ammonia down to .25 it’s kinda hard to tell the difference between .25 and .5, I’m pretty sure it’s at .25 and has been this way for about a week now. with no nitrite and about 20ppm nitrate. Im concerned on why the ammonia isn’t going down anymore? When should I change/clean my filter sock? Maybe that could be the problem too. I didn’t do it for the first 5 and a half weeks cause it didn’t look to bad and I’m thinking of changing it every 2 days from now on
My setup is 40 pounds of live rock with a big bio filter rock in the sump.
Any help would be greatly appreciated and if you read this far thank you for reading my book. Ask any questions you have, thanks!

 

[14 foot reef]

Let me guess........Your using an API test kit right ?

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

Yes.... are they garbage?

 

[14 foot reef]

Yes.... are they garbage?

Well, thats a strong word(HeHe) Let's just say they are not accurate at the low end.

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

LOL ok what test kit do you recommend? I got a seachem ammonia alert thing that reads low ammonia and it says it’s less then .05ppm

You can’t tell cause of the blue light but it’s in the safe zone maybe a little in the alert zone

 

[14 foot reef]

In all honesty, I'd stop buying anything or everything. And start reading through this forum. In the search bar, search your basic interest in what you want to learn or ask and it has already been asked 250 times. All your answers truly really are right here. The other thing I would do is Right Now start watching the 52 weeks of reefing on BRSTV.
BRSTV also just started a new series called 5 minute Saltwater Aquarium Guide.
Ryan and Randy have really produced some valuable videos.

BRStv Investigates and Bulk Reef Supply YouTube Videos - Bulk Reef Supply

A collection of videos and accompanying articles around a variety of saltwater aquarium-focused topics from our YouTube channels.

www.bulkreefsupply.com

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

Will do! Thanks for the help! Much appreciated

 

[Florida Sunshine]

For now I would let things be. Let time build up the bacteria to its needed level.
Clean the filter sock and yes every other day is the recommended frequency

 

[Florida Sunshine]

For now I would let things be. Let time build up the bacteria to its needed level.
Clean the filter sock and yes every other day is the recommended(BRS) frequency.
You may have just missed the nitrite spike since you already have nitrates. You can always do water changes to bring that down but your level is not super hi or anything. Fish can live quite nicely with a bit of nitrate.
Personally I would not stress over that level of ammonia, but I would certainly keep an eye on it.
If you like you can add a product like Prime that will de-toxify the ammonia but adding it will skew your testing results for a while so that is your choice.

 

[Florida Sunshine]

For now I would let things be. Let time build up the bacteria to its needed level.
Clean the filter sock and yes every other day is the recommended(BRS) frequency.
You may have just missed the nitrite spike since you already have nitrates. You can always do water changes to bring that down but your level is not super hi or anything. Fish can live quite nicely with a bit of nitrate.
Personally I would not stress over that level of ammonia, but I would certainly keep an eye on it.
If you like you can add a product like Prime that will de-toxify the ammonia but adding it will skew your testing results for a while so that is your choice.

 

[arturoo1977]

If your nitrites are 0 and you already have nitrates, its almost for sure your ammonia is also 0.

 

[lapin]

If your tank actually was set up with 40lbs of live rock, it is already cycled.
I would work on doing a big water change to reduce nitrate.
Add livestock a little at a time.

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

Thanks everyone I got some salifert test kits from my local fish store and had them test my water the ammonia is practically not there less then .05, the api test kit misled me! Going to get some new fish later today!

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

The nitrites are at 0 and nitrates are at about 10-20 I did a 5% water change yesterday to hopefully remove most of those

 

[Quietman]

Congrats....most is optimistic. 5% is still 5%.

But 10-20 ppm NO3 is still fine start getting fish and CUC

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

Remove some* lol!

 

[Jcagle09]

What ever percentage you remove coincides with how much % you actually remove from your system. But I would say just monitor, you could get some chaeto to put in your sump to help bring nitrates down. But you will need to put a light over the sump to grow the chaeto. And make sure you pull out some chaeto ever so often as it grows. Hope this helps

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

Thanks!

 

[Iconicjellyfish]

Ok I got a juvenile blue tang and I know they lay down on the sand bed to rest, I drop acclimated him for about an hour then put him in, he was doing fine for about 2-3 hours then got stuck or was resting on the overflow grill. I moved him just to be sure he wasn’t dead and he moved to the rocks in somewhat of a cave. He had been there for a good 2 hours and then I decided I’d check on him to be 100% sure he was ok, he started to move around but was facing upward and seemed to be pushed around by the current and couldn’t orientate himself straight, did I wake him up and startle him? Did he hurt himself by resting on the overflow grill? Should I let him be for the night? I’m concerned for the little guy and don’t want him to die
I can re test the water for everything if someone needs it.

could it be higher nitrates?

 

[Terri Caton]

Where did you get the fish? If at your LFS did you watch it for a while?

Guess you didn't QT?

No, that's not normal. Hiding, yes. Upside down, no. However, I'd just wait a while and see if he gets better. Do you have good surface agitation? Make sure he's getting enough O2.