Ammonia Still Up on Day 5 Using Dr. Tim's One and Only

[albertski]

Day 12 Results Ammonia starting to down):

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: 0.8 ppm (The green is hard to tell now but I'm thinking it did go lower)
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .05 ppm
Nitrite: .2 ppm
Salinity: 1.026 SG
Temperature: 78.7

 

[Dr. Reef]

Bring sg down to 1.018,
Check pH and alk. Make alk high around 12 dkh.
Keep putting a pinch of food daily.
Tank will cycle in few days.

 

[albertski]

Day 13 Results (Ammonia went back up to 1.2):

In the morning I took out 6 cups of water out of the tank and replaced with RODI water to bring the salinity down. Also, I pinched some more food.

Later at night I ran tests:
Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: 1.2ppm (I'm guessing the ammonia wasn't .8 yesterday but it was just hard to tell)
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .05 ppm
Nitrite: .2 ppm
Salinity: 1.024 SG
Temperature: 79.1

After tests, I replaced 12 cups of water with RODI water to bring the salinity down more.

 

[albertski]

Bring sg down to 1.018,
Check pH and alk. Make alk high around 12 dkh.
Keep putting a pinch of food daily.
Tank will cycle in few days.

Thanks. I tried to bring down the salinity today, but it was not enough. I will see if It went down tomorrow.

Is it worth testing PH and alk if Ammonia isn't going down? Turns out it went back to 1.2 so I'm guessing it wasn't 0.8 the other day. Will see what happens tomorrow.

 

[Dr. Reef]

Thanks. I tried to bring down the salinity today, but it was not enough. I will see if It went down tomorrow.

Is it worth testing PH and alk if Ammonia isn't going down? Turns out it went back to 1.2 so I'm guessing it wasn't 0.8 the other day. Will see what happens tomorrow.

its worth testing alk. if alk is low cycle will stall.

 

[albertski]

Day 14 Results:

Ammonia went down slightly but not sure if it was just hard to tell between the colors.
It seems like Nitrite and nitrate went up slightly.

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: 1.0 ppm (color looked between 0.8 and 1.2)
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .5 ppm
Nitrite: 1 ppm
Salinity: 1.022 SG
Temperature: 79.1
Ph: 8.0
Alkalinity: 2.14 (first time testing so not sure how accurately I did it. You have to count how many drops till it turns green and it started to turn green at 6 which comes out to 2.14)

Salinity still seems high. I took out 9 cups of water and replaced it with RODI water after the test. Also, added a pinch of fish food.

 

[dzeleski]

Day 14 Results:

Ammonia went down slightly but not sure if it was just hard to tell between the colors.
It seems like Nitrite and nitrate went up slightly.

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: 1.0 ppm (color looked between 0.8 and 1.2)
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .5 ppm
Nitrite: 1 ppm
Salinity: 1.022 SG
Temperature: 79.1
Ph: 8.0
Alkalinity: 2.14 (first time testing so not sure how accurately I did it. You have to count how many drops till it turns green and it started to turn green at 6 which comes out to 2.14)

Salinity still seems high. I took out 9 cups of water and replaced it with RODI water after the test. Also, added a pinch of fish food.

You are mid cycle now, I wouldnt touch anything or do anything. Your probably ~48 hours away at this point.

 

[albertski]

Day 15 Results:

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: .8 ppm
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .5 ppm
Nitrite: .5 ppm (I think yesterday should have been .5 instead of 1)
Salinity: 1.020 SG
Temperature: 79.1
Ph: 8.0
Alkalinity: 2.14

 

[albertski]

Day 16 Results:

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: .8 ppm
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .5 ppm
Nitrite: .5 ppm (I think yesterday should have been .5 instead of 1)
Salinity: 1.020 SG
Temperature: 79.1
Ph: 8.0
Alkalinity: 2.14

 

[albertski]

You are mid cycle now, I wouldnt touch anything or do anything. Your probably ~48 hours away at this point.

The ammonia hasn't dropped in the past 48 hours. Is it normal for the ammonia to drop slowly?

 

[albertski]

its worth testing alk. if alk is low cycle will stall.

The all is low. Should I do anything to bring it up?

 

[brandon429]

On seneye, you’d be cycled on page one. This is a slow, painful misread journey right

Apply tan conversion to your red sea above, it matches now the badge. info has been omitted so far in feedback I noticed

Your free ammonia is ten times lower than the pic above shows.


The pics of the test are clear and good too, to track any changes, worsening etc. it’s good to track how long the current metric requires to allow you to begin reefing after paying for and feeding 48 hour bottle bac.


one of the ways your cycle has been mis-assessed is that you’re at the ammonia drop date on a common cycling chart. Old cycling science ignores this core compliance date and instantly accepts any stated non digital reading as proof of non compliance. What seneye would have showed you twelve days ago: ready to begin.


people use this bottle bac for fish-in cycling and it controls ammonia immediately, we have the seneye logs from Jon M if needed. You’re three times longer wait than full implantation takes for all surfaces in your reef, you are done cycling. Change your wastewater for new, and begin if you want to reef.

but if you’re determined to use total ammonia from Red Sea exclusively to manage this current wastewater, we for sure want to see how long it takes to go to zero.

 

[albertski]

Day 17 Results:

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: .8 ppm
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .2 ppm
Nitrite: .1 ppm (I think yesterday should have been .5 instead of 1)
Salinity: 1.020 SG
Temperature: 79.1
Ph: 8.0
Alkalinity: 2.14

 

[brandon429]

Just for practice following directions on the test for ammonia, the red sea:

restate your ammonia levels above after TAN conversion for nh3, marine aquarists don't want to know the total ammonia which is what you're stating above

restate your levels as nh3/ per instructions in the kit/ what does the ammonia read

Your test kit for red sea has the nh3 conversion chart for a reason, and the cycle umpires need info reported as nh3 not total ammonia, which .8 reported above sure is total ammonia

using total ammonia and red sea, it will be neat to see if your cycle is done by Thanksgiving time. Using nh3 form ammonia, after the TAN conversion, how far off are you from being cycled? is that reading far off from your badge, or pretty much a match?

a key stumbling block for you in your cycle assessment is you're reporting the wrong form of ammonia, you're reporting what we'd use in freshwater cycling not marine. nh3 = marine, re-report


***I did not understand tan conversion whatsoever until Dan explained it to me/ am merely relaying the baton

 

[albertski]

On seneye, you’d be cycled on page one. This is a slow, painful misread journey right

Apply tan conversion to your red sea above, it matches now the badge. info has been omitted so far in feedback I noticed

Your free ammonia is ten times lower than the pic above shows.


The pics of the test are clear and good too, to track any changes, worsening etc. it’s good to track how long the current metric requires to allow you to begin reefing after paying for and feeding 48 hour bottle bac.


one of the ways your cycle has been mis-assessed is that you’re at the ammonia drop date on a common cycling chart. Old cycling science ignores this core compliance date and instantly accepts any stated non digital reading as proof of non compliance. What seneye would have showed you twelve days ago: ready to begin.


people use this bottle bac for fish-in cycling and it controls ammonia immediately, we have the seneye logs from Jon M if needed. You’re three times longer wait than full implantation takes for all surfaces in your reef, you are done cycling. Change your wastewater for new, and begin if you want to reef.

but if you’re determined to use total ammonia from Red Sea exclusively to manage this current wastewater, we for sure want to see how long it takes to go to zero.

Hmm so there are two different readings of Ammonia? NH3 and NH4?

If I am reading 0.8 ppm (I'm guessing NH4), would that mean I have 0.08 NH3?

If so, perhaps I should follow Dr. Tim's instructions and add ammonia since it is below 2ppm and make sure it goes down the next day? Maybe I'm already cycled and just waiting for NH4 to go down to 0.

 

[Garf]

Hmm so there are two different readings of Ammonia? NH3 and NH4?

If I am reading 0.8 ppm (I'm guessing NH4), would that mean I have 0.08 NH3?

If so, perhaps I should follow Dr. Tim's instructions and add ammonia since it is below 2ppm and make sure it goes down the next day? Maybe I'm already cycled and just waiting for NH4 to go down to 0.

Ammonia badge certainly looks good.

 

[Dan_P]

I started off ghost feeding my 10 gallon QT and using Microbacter 7. After some feedback, I siphoned out the food and stopped adding Microbacter 7, and went with Dr. Tim's One and Only. I'm currently on day 5 of cycling my tank using Dr. Tim's One and Only process. On Day 2, the ammonia went up and it never went below 2ppm. Is it normal for the ammonia to stay up like this? Nitrite is at 0 ppm and Nitrate is at .2 ppm.

I'm guessing that my ammonia is at 3ppm because the color is darker than my Red Sea Test kit has. It has been at about 3ppm for the past 3 days.

I have been growing nitrifying biofilms with Bio-Spira. The recommended dose would bring your total ammonia down to zero a few days. Fritz Turbo also is fast. You see poor results possibly because you got a bad batch from Dr. Tim or your system is creating ammonia faster than it can be consumed. What’s the pH of your system? Your ammonia alert badge should be reading something. Is it new? I can’t think of way your ammonia reading is a false high. To test the test, test a sample of freshly prepared salt water. Wait another 2-3 days andif the reading is high, but Bio-Spira.

 

[albertski]

I have been growing nitrifying biofilms with Bio-Spira. The recommended dose would bring your total ammonia down to zero a few days. Fritz Turbo also is fast. You see poor results possibly because you got a bad batch from Dr. Tim or your system is creating ammonia faster than it can be consumed. What’s the pH of your system? Your ammonia alert badge should be reading something. Is it new? I can’t think of way your ammonia reading is a false high. To test the test, test a sample of freshly prepared salt water. Wait another 2-3 days andif the reading is high, but Bio-Spira.

These are my latest results (Day 17):

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: .8 ppm
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .2 ppm
Nitrite: .1 ppm (I think yesterday should have been .5 instead of 1)
Salinity: 1.020 SG
Temperature: 79.1
Ph: 8.0
Alkalinity: 2.14

Could it be that my Red Seat Test Kit is reading NH4 but I should be looking at NH3? It just seems like it is staying the same.

 

[brandon429]

if the badge reads .05 Albertski, and the Red Sea says .08 nh3, is that a truly unacceptable spread for non digital gear? It’s pretty good I think. the two kits don’t appear too far apart now.


getting your badge ran on a full cycled reef back on page one would have saved the headache, that still remains a viable option, to prove your badge works fine.

that’s not a display reef, it won’t run the same ammonia control a reef display runs.

dont expect it to pass display cycling rules, a quarantine cycle should use less initial loading.



non TAN factoring really is a powerful impact to our hobby. There comes a point you use # of days underwater to time your cycle, but it depends on which method you want to use. Change your water and begin, that system can only carry a single fish or so in quarantine, you’ll have to account for feed as well.

 

[Dan_P]

These are my latest results (Day 17):

Ammonia Red Sea Test Kit: .8 ppm
Ammonia Seachem Ammonia Badge: Alert .05 ppm
Nitrate: .2 ppm
Nitrite: .1 ppm (I think yesterday should have been .5 instead of 1)
Salinity: 1.020 SG
Temperature: 79.1
Ph: 8.0
Alkalinity: 2.14

Could it be that my Red Seat Test Kit is reading NH4 but I should be looking at NH3? It just seems like it is staying the same.

The numbers you provide look good. For 0.8 ppm total ammonia and assuming 10% free ammonia, I would predict 0.08 ppm on the Seachem badge and an accurate calculated value 0.04 ppm. You report 0.05 ppm.