Need help with tank cycle!

[Hozat24]

Hi everyone! Im just getting into the aquarium hobby and decided to set up a new 55 gallon tank. I started cycling the tank for about a month and my ammonia is 0.25-0.50, nitrate is at 0, and nitrite is at 0, I tested it throughout and my ammonia never went down to 0 why do I have excess ammonia? I cycled my tank with fish food (pellets). Please help a beginner out! Thanks!

 

[Mjrenz]

Based on the numbers you have it sounds like you may be using an api test kit, if you are, the test kit could be your problem

 

[Auquanut]

Has your ammonia gone up or down at all?? Have you been doing water changes? Any algae visible in the tank? I agree with MJ. Wouldn't trust API in a marine tank. I use Salifert, but I'm sure there are better test kits out there.

 

[GMay]

The other thing to ask is, if you used any bacteria starter? Things like Dr. Tim's One and Only, Microbacter-7 or similar products.

 

[Dkeller_nc]

If there are no fish or other critters in the tank, something is definitely at issue with your measurements. The bacteria necessary to process ammonia in a tank (whether salt or fresh) or everywhere, and you couldn't actually prevent a cycle if you wanted to. The bacterial products will potentially accelerate the cycle, but they're not totally necessary, and a month is way too long for ammonia to persist unless it's being added to the tank in some manner (either intentionally by the aquarist, or from fish/inverts, etc...).