Test results post first live stock ammonia spike

[NoWaiAma]

so after adding two fish. A shrimp. Then a small cuc. I had a spike. .025 ammonia. Nitrates 10-20ppm. Water changes prime dosage. Uses api and Red Sea today. I’m a bit confused on how to read this ?

 

[Maggie321]

It's possible you weren't done with your cycle. How old is the tank? Everyone says API are notorious for false readings. But, you could do a water change to help lower it. I personally, would add a bottle of bacteria also.

 

[NoWaiAma]

It was like 3 weeks. The ammonia spike was freaking off the charts. The two fish seem totally fine.

 

[NoWaiAma]

I’m at about 5 weeks I think right now

 

[Maggie321]

What do your nitrates read?

 

[NoWaiAma]

Between 0-10ppm. Nitrites 0

 

[lapin]

A spike is to be expected. You should keep monitoring the level, it should drop. It would not hurt to do a small water change to help the fish out. Another option is to use prime to bind up the ammonia, if you can not do a water change right away.

 

[HotRocks]

This is probably pretty normal for a 5 week old tank.

Keep in mind, any amount of ammonia that is measurable can start to cause damage to fish. So definitely dose prime or WC in order to protect livestock.

 

[WVNed]

If I use Prime the water seems to always show a slight green tinge and reads between 0 and 0.25 on an API ammonia test forever. I ignore it but retest a couple of times a day.
I only use Prime on hospital tanks now.

 

[HotRocks]

Prime does NOT remove ammonia. It basically just detoxifies the ammonia to a form that isn't harmful. Your biofilter still has to remove the ammonia.

 

[NoWaiAma]

Thanks for the knowledge and replies all

 

[Jesterrace]

Prime does NOT remove ammonia. It basically just detoxifies the ammonia to a form that isn't harmful. Your biofilter still has to remove the ammonia.

Agreed and it isn't 100%, but it's a heck of a lot better than leaving your fish exposed to toxic form ammonia.

 

[NoWaiAma]

Believe I’m in the clear for now.

 

[Jesterrace]

Looks good, just kick that API test kit to the curb and you should be fine.