Ammonia not going down

[c147258]

Hi everyone,

Thank you for your time.

I am trying to cycle my QT before my display tank comes in.

My ammonia is sitting at 2ppm and nitrite is sitting at 0 ppm. It's been 7 days with no changes in the readings.

As you can see from the picture below, I have a small piece of live rock in it along with a bunch of crushed corals that I've got from an established tank.

I just thought the process would speed up. I wonder if something went wrong.

Chris

 

[Reeferdood]

How did you introduce ammonia to begin your cycle? Using the natural approach to cycling a tank can take up to a month to complete. If you are in a hurry you could always go get some bio spira, I use it every time I set up a new tank and have never had an issue.
One other thing before I forget....

 

[c147258]

Thank you for the heads up. I've introduced ammonia by throwing in a piece of shrimp and took it out when ammonia reaches 2ppm.

I guess I just have to wait then. I just thought live rock would speed up the process. I am a bit surprised by how indifferent the readings are after 7 days.

 

[Reeferdood]

Thank you for the heads up. I've introduced ammonia by throwing in a piece of shrimp and took it out when ammonia reaches 2ppm.

I guess I just have to wait then. I just thought live rock would speed up the process. I am a bit surprised by how indifferent the readings are after 7 days.

All tanks are different, the more places you have for bacteria to colonize the quicker your ammonia will come down. More live rock, faster cycle...

 

[recess62]

There are many who do not have QTs set up all the time and set them up when need. Those who do use an ammonia badge and do water changes when ammonia is present. This the tank is not cycled. If you are going to keep a QT running 24/7 you will need to feed it to maintain the cycle

 

[c147258]

There are many who do not have QTs set up all the time and set them up when need. Those who do use an ammonia badge and do water changes when ammonia is present. This the tank is not cycled. If you are going to keep a QT running 24/7 you will need to feed it to maintain the cycle

I see.

I kept reading how people have their sponge seeded in their main tank and throw it into the QT when required. That’s why I expecting a sudden drop in ammonia.

Now I get it. Their tanks are not cycled even though these sponges are introduced.

 

[Barry_Cuda]

For those who don't maintain a QT full-time - how do you get it ready quickly enough if you have a problem and need to quarantine a fish? If you're planning additions, I can get this - just cycle the QT before buying the fish. But what if you urgently need to remove a sick fish from the DT and quarantine it?

 

[WallysWorld]

There are many who do not have QTs set up all the time and set them up when need. Those who do use an ammonia badge and do water changes when ammonia is present. This the tank is not cycled. If you are going to keep a QT running 24/7 you will need to feed it to maintain the cycle

What's an ammonia badge? Sorry if this is a newbie question, but I've only seen the test kits for ammonia.....maybe you are talking about the same thing?

 

[Dennis McGrath]

The ammonia badge I assume they were referring to is one of these: https://www.seachem.com/ammonia-alert.php

 

[c147258]

For those who don't maintain a QT full-time - how do you get it ready quickly enough if you have a problem and need to quarantine a fish? If you're planning additions, I can get this - just cycle the QT before buying the fish. But what if you urgently need to remove a sick fish from the DT and quarantine it?

From what I read, it's pretty much a "do as much as you can" approach. The tank will not be cycled. When you see ammonia at a harmful level, do a water change.

Please correct me if I am wrong.

 

[c147258]

I've added the Seachem ammonia badge yesterday, it's been 24 hours and it's showing 0.05ppm of ammonia. My Red Sea test kit says 2ppm.

Does it mean that there's a high concentration of ammonium instead of ammonia in my tank?

 

[DracoKat]

the bags containing your crushed coral, the zipper, is it metal or plastic? Metal can be harmful when it corrodes in saltwater. Not sure if it would be a cause for the ammonia, but I'd take it out if its metal

 

[TheEngineer]

The badges read total ammonia in the tank. I can’t recall what the Red Sea kit reports back. Generally I use the badge as a monitor. If it changes color, I do a test with a regular kit. The other nice thing about the badges is that they work even with copper in the tank.

As for the quick QT setup... the tank doesn’t have to be cycled if you are in a position to deal with the water chemistry. I keep a sponge in my sump to help seed the bio filter and I use a bacteria in a bottle too. Generally speaking you are doing somewhat frequent water changes in a QT and the volume is small enough that you can keep things at bay.

 

[c147258]

the bags containing your crushed coral, the zipper, is it metal or plastic? Metal can be harmful when it corrodes in saltwater. Not sure if it would be a cause for the ammonia, but I'd take it out if its metal

Those are entirely plastic. No metals.