Ammonia still present 6 weeks into cycle HELP

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jdm85

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Rest of the salifert tests you look down not sideways. You sure you're checking it correctly? Maybe you're supposed to set it on there and look from the top.
You are correct but with the Ammonia test the instructions are different


Instructions:

  1. Add with 5ml syringe 1 ml of water in the test vial.
  2. Add 6 drops of NH3-1 (watch out caustic!) and swirl gently for 5 seconds.
  3. Add 6 drops of NH3-2 (watch out contains Mercury salts, wash hands after use, keep away from food, see additional warning under the heading WARNING). Swirl gently for 5 seconds and allow to-stand for 5 minutes.
  4. Hold the test vial and look through the side of the test vial. Keep the color chart behind the test vial. Ensure that a white piece of the color chart is behind the liquid layer. The values on the color chart are in mg/L total ammonia (that is NH3 + NH4+).
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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I have read some articles few months back that after making salt mix up then amnonia appeared.something to do with something in salt mix and how it reacts.will try find it

Many salt mixes have a little ammonia in them. It's not generally a concern.
 
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Many salt mixes have a little ammonia in them. It's not generally a concern.
Should I try to get my tap water down to 0ppm of Ammonia through my RODI?

is that even a possibility or will you always be left with a bit ammonia after the process

either way. I find it odd that my other tank reads zero ammonia and zero nitrite using the same water source
 

Randy Holmes-Farley

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Should I try to get my tap water down to 0ppm of Ammonia through my RODI?

is that even a possibility or will you always be left with a bit ammonia after the process

either way. I find it odd that my other tank reads zero ammonia and zero nitrite using the same water source

I'm not sure your kit is accurate. If it is 0 ppm TDS, I'd use it.

But if the TDS is rising, RO/DI can have a lot of ammonia if there is chloramine in your tap water. The ammonia can be well above the chloramine level in the incoming water when the TDS first rises.
 
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I'm not sure your kit is accurate. If it is 0 ppm TDS, I'd use it.

But if the TDS is rising, RO/DI can have a lot of ammonia if there is chloramine in your tap water. The ammonia can be well above the chloramine level in the incoming water when the TDS first rises.
TDS in: 80ppm
TDS out: 0ppm

I'm going to allow the tank to run a few more weeks to see if my ammonia and nitirite zero out

as for lowering my Nitrates I'll do smaller water changes and see if that can bring it down
 

MnFish1

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I appreciate the insight

When it comes to adding corals
Adding corals into an environment where you have above 20ppm of nitrate is not ideal correct also there could be a concern when it comes to algae growth with nitrates at the levels they are at.

I've read 10ppm is where you want to keep nitrate for overall colorations and growth and there is a fine line between good and bad when it comes to how high nitrate should be
1. My guess is its a testing issue - rather than a cycling issue. (You could verify the results with another brand)?
2. The fact that your nitrate isn't dropping is a factor of how much water you're changing - and how much nitrate your tank is producing - or again - a testing error/issue.
3. There are several, calculators out there that you can use (see link below) - to determine how much of a substance should be removed with water changes. For example - if you changed 100% of you water - your nitrate by definition would be zero (if you checked it right after). Use this calculator, plug in your numbers. But - lets say you have a 100 gallon tank and you changed 5 gallons - your nitrate will drop by 5% - which may be within the margin of error of your test, etc etc - I have no idea - because you didn't provide that information.

I think as @brandon429 said, your tank is cycled. If you changed enough water with enough frequency - and your doing the nitrate test correctly, your nitrate will drop as well.

I wouldn't consider adding coral until this is better sorted out.

EDIT - added the calculator:
 
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MnFish1

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TDS in: 80ppm
TDS out: 0ppm

I'm going to allow the tank to run a few more weeks to see if my ammonia and nitirite zero out

as for lowering my Nitrates I'll do smaller water changes and see if that can bring it down
I just want to comment on this a little. You've asked for advice and several questions - and gotten a lot of good advice. IMHO (and I'm not trying to be mean or snarky here) - what you're doing doesn't make sense. People have answered the question pretty much. Don't worry about nitrite/ammonia. (to me it looks like you're doing the tests incorrectly - simply by the fact that when you did a 100% water change your nitrate didnt move (but - the numbers you quoted also did not seem correct) - by that I mean these numbers here:

Day 12

Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrite: .50ppm
Nitrate: 100ppm

100% water change

6 weeks in

Ammonia: .25ppm
Nitrite: .25ppm
Nitrate: .50ppm100% water change and immediately test for Nitrate the number does not move. In theory the Nitrate should drop below 10.
Also The nitrite are still present

(the reason this doesn't make sense is that at 6 weeks your nitrate did drop below 10) - perhaps you made a typo?

IMHO - decreasing the amount of water changes is exactly the 'wrong' thing to do - instead more frequent larger water changes is the thing to do - assuming your nitrate levels are really what you quoted (...

Do you think there is any chance you could have anything 'dead' or dying in your rock (I'm assuming it wasn't live rock) - or are you adding any other organics (food, etc) to the tank - if not - there is no physical way that nitrate can 'increase' that quickly after a 100% water change (and no new ammonia added).

By the way - more comment - if the upper range of the salifert test is 100 (which I believe it is) - if the nitrate in your tank is 160, and you change 10 percent of yoru water - the result will still show 100. Hope this helps
 

brandon429

why did you put a reef in that
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update pics! we already linked this one in our false ammonia alert thread prominently, now just need update pics vs test levels, we dont need those.
 

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