Slightly awkward situation

[Js.Aqua.Project]

@Reef Nutrition any advice?

 

[Brew12]

He stated current ammonia at 2PPm. Bacteria digests ammonia. Along with sunlight, water and carbon dioxide, phytoplankton require a variety of other nutrients from the water including nitrogen, phosphorous and iron. The most important are nitrogen and phosphorous which are essential to survival and reproduction. Nitrogen is in short supply in some areas but in other areas, phosphorous is limited. Phytoplankton cannot continue to grow when one or the other has been used up. They are part of the food chain and therefore would not be consuming and transferring ammonia to aquatic life.
Phytoplankton contain chlorophyll which allows them to convert sunlight into energy. In the process known as photosynthesis, they combine the sunlight with water and carbon dioxide to create carbohydrates which they use as nutrients.

I wasn't intending to imply that ammonia was the only thing phytoplankton needed. Only that NH4 in particular can be a nitrogen source utilized by phytoplankton. Since NH4 and NH3 are in an equilibrium based on pH, if phytoplankton consumes NH4 then some NH3 shifts to NH4 reducing total ammonia. Probably a little more in depth than this thread needs....

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 10

....am I just about cycled? I haven't been testing for ammonia very often like I should (working nights and heavy training for a half Ironman take up most of my time lately), so I don't know if it ever really spiked. Should I give it a dose of ammonia, test daily, and see what it does?

I wouldn't add more ammonia. I would wait another day or two to see if nitrite will finish dropping to zero.

 

[vetteguy53081]

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.5
Nitrate 10

....am I just about cycled? I haven't been testing for ammonia very often like I should (working nights and heavy training for a half Ironman take up most of my time lately), so I don't know if it ever really spiked. Should I give it a dose of ammonia, test daily, and see what it does?

Dose of ammonia????? You DON'T want to add ammonia but rather have the ecosystem established in tank dissolve /digest it. Ammonia is not something that comes in a bottle but rather un-dissolved waste/by-product in the system. Hence, your readings support nothing producing waste. You appeared to be cycled and the true test is adding a small fish or two and monitoring to see how levels look on a weekly basis

 

[vetteguy53081]

I wasn't intending to imply that ammonia was the only thing phytoplankton needed. Only that NH4 in particular can be a nitrogen source utilized by phytoplankton. Since NH4 and NH3 are in an equilibrium based on pH, if phytoplankton consumes NH4 then some NH3 shifts to NH4 reducing total ammonia. Probably a little more in depth than this thread needs....


I wouldn't add more ammonia. I would wait another day or two to see if nitrite will finish dropping to zero.

Yes, that makes sense. I confused myself for a minute

 

[Chasing-Coral]

I'd certainly let them know so they can fix this deficiency going forward with other orders, if not your own.

I agree! It seems like they have an issue with logistics so it would be a good idea to let them know so that they can fix the issue.

I would wait an additional week or two to make sure its cycled properly. You can keep the pods alive with and air stone and some phytoplankton in the mean time. Its not difficult to keep them alive for several weeks, heck, you might actually be able to increase the population.