Ammonia

[manuel josephh]

Hi guys its been one week since i kick started the cycle and the ammonia levels in my tank are are still above 8ppm. Did a 50% water change because that’s what my LFS recommended me to do but after doing a water change and waiting for a few hours the ammonia levels are still above 8ppm. What else can i do to lower it down? Will adding more bacteria lower the ammonia?I may have dosed abit too much dr tims ammonia at the start was using fritzzyme 9 at the start but using microbacter start xlm now. Felt like the fritzzyme 9 wasn’t working. Will appreciate a lot if you guys could help me beginner reefer here

 

[lapin]

You said above 8ppm ? Is it 20ppm? Do you have rock and sand in the tank ?
You should think about changing out 95% of the water and adding more bacteria.

 

[manuel josephh]

You said above 8ppm ? Is it 20ppm? Do you have rock and sand in the tank ?
You should think about changing out 95% of the water and adding more bacteria.

Yea above 8ppm since day 1and it hasn’t changed. I’m guessing it’s above 8ppm cause that’s as far as my test kit can test. I’m using a api test kit. And yea I’m using dry rock and sand

 

[VisibleClownage]

Ammonia levels beyond 5ppm might stall the cycle, and 8ppm is basically like a handbrake.
If you just changed water and it's still above 8, that means that the test kit has reached its limit of measuring or there's something else that keeps producing ammonia (very unlikely)

So yes, I support the idea of a 90 - 95% water change