Mini cycle again?

[Dgomez10]

Have a 75 gallon display with 40 gallon sump with refugium in sump. A couple of weeks ago, I began detecting ammonia (.2), Nitrite (.2) and nitrate (50). The tank has been running for 6 months and has been stable. All of a sudden, this issue began. Any recommendations? My nitrates don’t seem to be dropping. I have been using prime to detoxify for now, but I know that is not a permanent solution. I have been doing about 15% water changes, daily.

 

[Spare time]

What test are you using?

 

[brandon429]

Prime causes false reads, and for the original reading that was false Google shows most kits we use over reporting ammonia and nitrite commonly

no reefs get mini cycles it’s all test drifts, post a pic of your tank. Read this thread to see the impact of mis testing, not a thing is wrong with your reef or something other than a test reading would be the report


https://www.reef2reef.com/threads/crazy-ammonia-spike.796492/

 

[brandon429]

We need to make a false ammonia spike work thread so folks know not to make any responsive actions or purchases to the misreads


no reef tank can get a mini cycle without severe sandbed disturbance or being dosed with antibiotic medication. The surface area we run is too high to allow unused ammonia. It’s rapidly uptaken in all reefs.

 

[Garf]

Have a 75 gallon display with 40 gallon sump with refugium in sump. A couple of weeks ago, I began detecting ammonia (.2), Nitrite (.2) and nitrate (50). The tank has been running for 6 months and has been stable. All of a sudden, this issue began. Any recommendations? My nitrates don’t seem to be dropping. I have been using prime to detoxify for now, but I know that is not a permanent solution. I have been doing about 15% water changes, daily.

0.2 total ammonia reading would relate to less than 0.02 free ammonia at reef tank pH deemed safe if your using a total ammonia liquid test. Ammonia tests can be thrown off a tad from organic stuff in the water, algal exudates, amino acids, decaying waste, food etc. Not sure of the influence of prime but I imagine it doesn’t help accuracy. Have you got a tank problem that you think is being caused by these results?

 

[brandon429]

the hobby needs work threads showing everything fine and only the tester showing concern (need pics or vid of this tank to show hidden safety details) because the fact nothing is occurring is a new claim in reefing and it needs to be scrutinized.

find any other decade where test kits were doubted online as they are now, we don't know how far the mis-testing has spread but we get clues on stuck ammonia posts

high ammonia is a legit scary issue that causes people to make all kinds of purchases and reactions, justifiably so, because nobody that writes reef articles in print will touch the subject. We have not been shown an objective evaluation in reefing for ammonia other than what a titration test kit says and sometimes we don't wait long enough for the reading, or shake reagents well enough, or fill high enough at five mls, and the kitchen lighting is a greenish hue due to ordering from home and garden tv / so many confounds


but the tank pics, the vid, always happy fish always clear water always open corals.




a dead fish spikes briefly, nothing in the tank cares, then in hours the filtration is right back to norm and for ten weeks api will still report metabolites, that's the game.