Ammonia never reading 0

[Reef_Frank]

Hi All,

I think i'm nearing the end of the cycle for my first reef tank! After 5 or 6 weeks I am getting ammonia and nitrite readings of 0.2 (or slightly under). I add ammonia to the tank (to a reading of 1) then a day or two later the reading will be back to 0.2. Do I need to wait longer until I get a reading of 0 or is it safe to assume the tests are slightly off? I have used 2 different test (red sea and a random brand from my LFS) and they both give similar readings.

I am hoping I will be able to add my first fish very soon!

Thanks in advance for the help

 

[MnFish1]

Hi All,

I think i'm nearing the end of the cycle for my first reef tank! After 5 or 6 weeks I am getting ammonia and nitrite readings of 0.2 (or slightly under). I add ammonia to the tank (to a reading of 1) then a day or two later the reading will be back to 0.2. Do I need to wait longer until I get a reading of 0 or is it safe to assume the tests are slightly off? I have used 2 different test (red sea and a random brand from my LFS) and they both give similar readings.

I am hoping I will be able to add my first fish very soon!

Thanks in advance for the help

Hi - there is no 'quick' answer to this. My guess though is there is a problem with testing error - since at 5-6 weeks you should be good to go.

1). Did you add any bacteria or did you just add ammonia to the tank?
2). Why are you continuing to add ammonia? I would have added ammonia according to the instructions on any of the methods youre using - and then stopped - waiting for it to drop to zero?
3). Have you ever used Prime, etc or other chemicals that can cause false ammonia levels?
4). I'm sure many people here have seen this type of thing where ammonia remains slightly low 'on the test' - but its more a function of the test as compared to a problem.
5). Have you measured Nitrate? Sometimes Nitrate can cause false positive Nitrite levels and vice versa depending on the test. Nitrite is not as helpful in a reef tank - as its not really toxic at the pH of the tank. (what is your pH)?

I would stop dosing ammonia completely. Add a bottled bacteria product like Fritz 900 or 9000. wait a couple days and add fish. I'm sure @brandon429 will have a comment. Hope this helps

 

[Reef_Frank]

Hi - there is no 'quick' answer to this. My guess though is there is a problem with testing error - since at 5-6 weeks you should be good to go.

1). Did you add any bacteria or did you just add ammonia to the tank?
2). Why are you continuing to add ammonia? I would have added ammonia according to the instructions on any of the methods youre using - and then stopped - waiting for it to drop to zero?
3). Have you ever used Prime, etc or other chemicals that can cause false ammonia levels?
4). I'm sure many people here have seen this type of thing where ammonia remains slightly low 'on the test' - but its more a function of the test as compared to a problem.
5). Have you measured Nitrate? Sometimes Nitrate can cause false positive Nitrite levels and vice versa depending on the test. Nitrite is not as helpful in a reef tank - as its not really toxic at the pH of the tank. (what is your pH)?

I would stop dosing ammonia completely. Add a bottled bacteria product like Fritz 900 or 9000. wait a couple days and add fish. I'm sure @brandon429 will have a comment. Hope this helps

Hi - thanks for the reply!

1) I used a reef mature started kit by red sea reefer which included bacteria to add
2) perhaps foolish of me, but I was confused by the constant 0.2 readings and wanted to see if the reading dropped back quickly to this after I added ammonia. I believe I saw a popular post here saying they prefer the ammonia to be able to drop to 0 in 24H.
3) I havent added anything not included in the mature started kit
5) Nitrate is steadily increasing - around 30ppm currently - I didnt want to do a water change until the cycle had completed. pH has been steadily 8.2/8.3.

Your comment has relaxed me a little and its seeming more likely that my tests will just never read 0!
Thanks again for taking the time to reply

 

[MnFish1]

Hi - thanks for the reply!

1) I used a reef mature started kit by red sea reefer which included bacteria to add
2) perhaps foolish of me, but I was confused by the constant 0.2 readings and wanted to see if the reading dropped back quickly to this after I added ammonia. I believe I saw a popular post here saying they prefer the ammonia to be able to drop to 0 in 24H.
3) I havent added anything not included in the mature started kit
5) Nitrate is steadily increasing - around 30ppm currently - I didnt want to do a water change until the cycle had completed. pH has been steadily 8.2/8.3.

Your comment has relaxed me a little and its seeming more likely that my tests will just never read 0!
Thanks again for taking the time to reply

If your nitrate is that high - I (personally) would not be concerned about the low ammonia. BUT - to ensure that its not going to be a problem - I might add a product like Fritz (which states you can add fish the same day) - and also supposedly contains live nitrifying bacteria - and then add fish per the instructions on the Fritz bottle. I think you can also do your water change.

I have also read that recommendation to raise the ammonia - and see if it drops within 24 hours - but many of the people that recommend this also say that ammonia tests are notoriously inaccurate/prone to error - and can be ignored. Thats why I tagged Brandon - he has a lot of experience with these issues. Hope this helps. Good luck with your tank

 

[Azedenkae]

Hi All,

I think i'm nearing the end of the cycle for my first reef tank! After 5 or 6 weeks I am getting ammonia and nitrite readings of 0.2 (or slightly under). I add ammonia to the tank (to a reading of 1) then a day or two later the reading will be back to 0.2. Do I need to wait longer until I get a reading of 0 or is it safe to assume the tests are slightly off? I have used 2 different test (red sea and a random brand from my LFS) and they both give similar readings.

I am hoping I will be able to add my first fish very soon!

Thanks in advance for the help

Nah so it's very common for test kits to not be able to read ammonia below a certain amount. After all, it would be illogical that ammonia would decrease, and then 'get stuck' at a certain number. That's not really how it would work.

Multiple possibilities, but likely there is always a trace amount of ammonia in the tank, or something else read as ammonia, but trace, and test kits will register it as 'not zero' which would be whatever the next lowest value is, which is 0.2 or whatever (0.25 on the API ammonia test kit).

So nothing to worry about.

 

[Reef_Frank]

Nah so it's very common for test kits to not be able to read ammonia below a certain amount. After all, it would be illogical that ammonia would decrease, and then 'get stuck' at a certain number. That's not really how it would work.

Multiple possibilities, but likely there is always a trace amount of ammonia in the tank, or something else read as ammonia, but trace, and test kits will register it as 'not zero' which would be whatever the next lowest value is, which is 0.2 or whatever (0.25 on the API ammonia test kit).

So nothing to worry about.

Perfect, thanks for the reply!