Hi all,
A couple weeks ago I started cycling my first marine tank. However after Day 2 it basically stalled and handn't done a single thing.
Here's a diary of what's happened so far.
Tank is a 70.2 Waterbox
Day 0 - Put in Dr Tims One & only + Dosed Ammonium Chloride (for memory around 180 drops)
Day 1- Ammonia 1.5 (Salifert Test)
Day 2 - Ammonia 0.5 (Salifert Test) + Dosed Ammonium Chloride after speaking to LFS and being told I should do a dose but they did not specify how much etc (200 drops this time as I thought I had done too little last time for my tank)
Day 3 to Day 13 Ammonia tested 1.5 (Salifert Test) After speaking with LFS and taking them water to test (they also used Salifert I believe) they confirmed Ammonia was up and I asked them about adding more bacteria etc. They gave me Seachem Stability to add and left me with that. Added 2x caps of Seachem Stability to the tank.
Day 14 - Ammonia tested 1.5 (Salifert Test)
Day 15 - Ammonia tested 1.5 (Salifert Test) Also went and bought an API Marine Master Saltwater Test Kit.
The test results from the API Kit are as follows;
pH 7.8
Nitrite - 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm
Ammonia - 8 ppm
Why on earth is Salifert test reading 1.5 and API test reading 8?! Obviously this explains the issue I've been having. I would have thought it the Salifert was reading high it would at least show 2 (as in it can't test any higher), why 1.5?!
Should I add some more Seachem Stability to increase the bacteria to take out the ammonia (and if so how much) or should I water change or do nothing ?
Would appreciate some help as I would love to get some livestock in the tank. Feels like it's taking forever at the moment.
A couple weeks ago I started cycling my first marine tank. However after Day 2 it basically stalled and handn't done a single thing.
Here's a diary of what's happened so far.
Tank is a 70.2 Waterbox
Day 0 - Put in Dr Tims One & only + Dosed Ammonium Chloride (for memory around 180 drops)
Day 1- Ammonia 1.5 (Salifert Test)
Day 2 - Ammonia 0.5 (Salifert Test) + Dosed Ammonium Chloride after speaking to LFS and being told I should do a dose but they did not specify how much etc (200 drops this time as I thought I had done too little last time for my tank)
Day 3 to Day 13 Ammonia tested 1.5 (Salifert Test) After speaking with LFS and taking them water to test (they also used Salifert I believe) they confirmed Ammonia was up and I asked them about adding more bacteria etc. They gave me Seachem Stability to add and left me with that. Added 2x caps of Seachem Stability to the tank.
Day 14 - Ammonia tested 1.5 (Salifert Test)
Day 15 - Ammonia tested 1.5 (Salifert Test) Also went and bought an API Marine Master Saltwater Test Kit.
The test results from the API Kit are as follows;
pH 7.8
Nitrite - 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm
Ammonia - 8 ppm
Why on earth is Salifert test reading 1.5 and API test reading 8?! Obviously this explains the issue I've been having. I would have thought it the Salifert was reading high it would at least show 2 (as in it can't test any higher), why 1.5?!
Should I add some more Seachem Stability to increase the bacteria to take out the ammonia (and if so how much) or should I water change or do nothing ?
Would appreciate some help as I would love to get some livestock in the tank. Feels like it's taking forever at the moment.