I have a 38 gallon QT. I cycled it by adding Fritz Fishless Fuel to get the ammonia to 2.4 (according to my Hanna checker), and added some Fritz TurboStart. I also put a biobrick in the tank from the sump of my already cycled display tank. Ammonia was down to below .2 on the Hanna, before I added 9 small fish. Then some idiocy began. I convinced myself that the ammonia had risen two weeks later, and couldn't find my Hanna checker, so decided to do a 50% water change. And I accidentally used RODI water instead of salt when I did the water change! I immediately realized my mistake and drained the tank down to a few inches and refilled with salt water. The tank was at about 1.010 salinity for about 10 minutes. None of the fish seemed to suffer. I got a new Hanna ammonia LR checker a few days later, and tested the ammonia and it was at .52, so I added 3 capfuls of Seachem Prime, which brought the ammonia down to .24.
Now I'm on vacation but have a housesitter watching the tank. He checked the ammonia yesterday and got a reading of .7. I had him add another 3 capfuls of Prime.
So can anyone help me understand what's going on? I don't fully understand the difference between "safe" and "toxic" ammonia, and how the Hanna checker readings relate to toxic ammonia, and at what reading I should be concerned.
Did the water change kill my cycle? Could 10 minutes of low salinity water have killed my denitrifying bacteria population? I would think that that fully cycled biobrick should be able to handle the bioload in a 38 gallon tank...
Thanks!
Now I'm on vacation but have a housesitter watching the tank. He checked the ammonia yesterday and got a reading of .7. I had him add another 3 capfuls of Prime.
So can anyone help me understand what's going on? I don't fully understand the difference between "safe" and "toxic" ammonia, and how the Hanna checker readings relate to toxic ammonia, and at what reading I should be concerned.
Did the water change kill my cycle? Could 10 minutes of low salinity water have killed my denitrifying bacteria population? I would think that that fully cycled biobrick should be able to handle the bioload in a 38 gallon tank...
Thanks!