3 days and no ammonia

[doliver]

I put the first part of my package in on Saturday afternoon, but as of this morning I still can't detect any ammonia. Does that seem strange? I do have some nitrite and nitrate -- not a lot, but clearly visible in the test.

I'm using Salifert test kits -- I find the color matching to be kind of challenging, but it definitely doesn't look yellow to me.

 

[iSpeakWhale]

Doliver,

Try tossing a raw shrimp in your tank for about a week since you do not have any bioload. That will give you a small amount of ammonia that you need to go through your cycle.

 

[iSpeakWhale]

That was my 100 post btw!!!

 

[docklink]

Doliver,

Try tossing a raw shrimp in your tank for about a week since you do not have any bioload. That will give you a small amount of ammonia that you need to go through your cycle.

I have to disagree. Your TBS LR/LS comes with its own bio-load. From a number of past posts, it appears that little or no Amm is not that unusual with the TBS package. Keep monitoring and if you are not sure have a friend or the LFS test your water for comformation. FWIW

 

[hdtran]

It is possible to cycle thru w/ TBS LR/LS with unusually low ammonia readings (mine never went above 0.25ppm, for example, and nitrites were never detectable).

I would not toss in something to rot. But I would observe for hitchhikers becoming more visible. If after 10 days you still have zero ammonia and nitrites, then, I'd say you are ready for Part II.

Hy

 

[doliver]

Thanks for the info, Hy. I'll just stay the course, then. I'd be happy if it never went up to 1.0, I just wanted some evidence of a rise so that I'd have something to track my progress. I'll just watch the nitrites in the meantime.

Other than the stuff that's attached to the rocks, the only hitchhikers I've really noticed so far are mantis (caught one and at least one more is still in there). I saw some crabs and a couple of little stars when I put the rocks in, but haven't seen them since.