Ammonia Reading

[Flyangler33]

My tank has been cycling for about 10 days now, I tested again today, is there a better test kit one would recommend maybe digital for testing ammonia. Not sure if im color blind or not but seems like I could be closer to 0 or .50 ><

 

[Jekyl]

Ahhh good ole API. Better to just ask if you have nitrate present and if a cycling product was used?

 

[Flyangler33]

Ahhh good ole API. Better to just ask if you have nitrate present and if a cycling product was used?

Here is the nitrate reading, looks like its registering 0, I did use Fritz turbo start 900 in the tank 10 days ago

 

[Jekyl]

Here is the nitrate reading, looks like its registering 0, I did use Fritz turbo start 900 in the tank 10 days ago

Did you add an ammonia source or only the fritz turbo?

 

[Flyangler33]

Did you add an ammonia source or only the fritz turbo?

Only the fritz, after doing some digging it seems I should have added an ammonia source, the LFS where I got the tank just said to run the Fritz nothing regarding an ammonia source. I guess would the next steps be to add an ammonia source and see if it gets back to 0?

 

[Jekyl]

Only the fritz, after doing some digging it seems I should have added an ammonia source, the LFS where I got the tank just said to run the Fritz nothing regarding an ammonia source. I guess would the next steps be to add an ammonia source and see if it gets back to 0?

Nope. The fritz has done its thing. Get a fish or 2 and don't feed like crazy while your bacteria builds up.

 

[alpenreef]

Nope. The fritz has done its thing. Get a fish or 2 and don't feed like crazy while your bacteria builds up.

Sorry what, if there was never any ammonia, the bacteria had nothing to eat, nothing cycled.

 

[Jekyl]

Sorry what, if there was never any ammonia, the bacteria had nothing to eat, nothing cycled.

Bacteria doesn't just die like that. If it makes you feel better you can go out and buy an ammonia source. I'm just letting you know that it shouldn't be necessary.

Doing so will test the system only. The "cycle" is what the bacteria you've already provided will be completing. It just means that your tank is able to convert ammonia to nitrate. The bacteria you added 10 days ago have already been doing the job asked of them, just without a lot of food to eat resulting in the low nitrate.

@brandon429 anything to add to this convo? You probably have spreadsheets at the ready lol.

 

[MadHatter'sReef]

Something worth noting would be if you used Live sand or not. I've seen people (myself included) go over board with the ammonium (just adding the recommend amount) because the live sand has an ammonia source.

 

[Flyangler33]

Something worth noting would be if you used Live sand or not. I've seen people (myself included) go over board with the ammonium (just adding the recommend amount) because the live sand has an ammonia source.

I used caribsea ocean direct live sand in the tank.

 

[MadHatter'sReef]

I used caribsea ocean direct live sand in the tank.

Okay. I haven't used that one specifically, but most companies are putting some type of food source for the bacteria in the live sand. With that, it wouldn't be necessary to add any ammonia or ammonium based product to the tank. API NH3 is a tough one to work with, Folks have misleading results all the time. Waiting is the hardest part.

 

[Flyangler33]

Okay. I haven't used that one specifically, but most companies are putting some type of food source for the bacteria in the live sand. With that, it wouldn't be necessary to add any ammonia or ammonium based product to the tank. API NH3 is a tough one to work with, Folks have misleading results all the time. Waiting is the hardest part.

Got it, yea its tough to read, im pretty patient and want to do it right the first time so waiting really isn't too bad for me. I appreciate the input!

 

[brandon429]

There is nothing antibiotic about a reef tank, even a brand new one. If we take water bacteria concentrated into water in the package bottle, then input it into a larger heated body of water, nothing happens to the bacteria that were adapted to living in water

They weren’t going to starve in the bottle for up to a year or more, and that’s a sealed and sterile monoculture package. A reef tank is opposite: open topped and full of contaminants and trade feed sources.

The tank becomes like a giant bottle of fritz. Natural contamination feed is too slow to feed much activity only ten days in, but some degree of natural food is always present in any home aquarium setting and Fritz doesn’t fail to carry bioload when it’s added to a fritz cycle. If the op adds some fish now, they’ll be fine which is the outcome of all searchable fish-in cycles I’ve ever seen in reefing. Waiting till day ten to test load the bac isn’t a problem. If it was dosed into the tank then not fed for eight hundred days and then load tested, it’ll still pass and in fact the entire system will be fully cycled like a well-fed cycle because that much wait time plus contamination input is fully fed many times over.

 

[Flyangler33]

There is nothing antibiotic about a reef tank, even a brand new one. If we take water bacteria concentrated into water in the package bottle, then input it into a larger heated body of water, nothing happens to the bacteria that were adapted to living in water

They weren’t going to starve in the bottle for up to a year or more, and that’s a sealed and sterile monoculture package. A reef tank is opposite: open topped and full of contaminants and trade feed sources.

The tank becomes like a giant bottle of fritz. Natural contamination feed is too slow to feed much activity only ten days in, but some degree of natural food is always present in any home aquarium setting and Fritz doesn’t fail to carry bioload when it’s added to a fritz cycle. If the op adds some fish now, they’ll be fine which is the outcome of all searchable fish-in cycles I’ve ever seen in reefing. Waiting till day ten to test load the bac isn’t a problem. If it was dosed into the tank then not fed for eight hundred days and then load tested, it’ll still pass and in fact the entire system will be fully cycled like a well-fed cycle because that much wait time plus contamination input is fully fed many times over.

So if I am understanding this correctly, I shouldn't need to add anything and introducing livestock should be an ok move? Or should I introduce more ammonia to see what happens with that? I added the fritz and only the fritz and let it do its thing, temp, salinity, and nitrates are all good.

 

[brandon429]

You can add life and fritz will carry it, but that instantly violate any of today's disease protocols from the fish disease forum. Skipping those methods to get the tank ready for fish has big consequence the forum shows.

The risk isn't in the cycle it's good out of the bottle and a ten day wait. If that was my tank I'd toss in one small ground up pinch of fish food, wait five more days while studying all stickies in the disease forum before beginning.

 

[fishyjoes]

So if I am understanding this correctly, I shouldn't need to add anything and introducing livestock should be an ok move? Or should I introduce more ammonia to see what happens with that? I added the fritz and only the fritz and let it do its thing, temp, salinity, and nitrates are all good.

If you added fritz turbo start you are safe to add fish right away - as in at the very same time.
I have done this many times when I set up a quarantine tank for newly acquired fish.