Thought my tank cycled after about 20-25 days so I added nice so called real thick red coralline live rock. Had bad diatom break out,turned lights Dow from 10 to 8 hrs t5s helped a bit but now have tested and see ammonia everyday at .025 no nitrites or nitrates is this normal after almost 40 days?
Ammonia showing at .025 normal?
- Thread starter tony47nv
- Start date
toothybugs
New member
How did you start the cycle, and did you have any live rock in there prior to added your thick red coralline stuff?
Gagonzalez
Reef Fanatic
Yes. Your not cycled. Just finishing the 1st stage at this point. Cycling could take 3 months or more sometimes. Just depends on all factors. Where is your live rock from? If it is from a LFS, could it be that they just received it from their source and hasn't been cured in their tanks yet? That would be my guess.
Then again, you do run through a cycle EVERYTIME you add anything to your tank(At least a mini one after it's established..). In this case, if you just had a bare tank, technically, nothing has cycled yet.
Then again, you do run through a cycle EVERYTIME you add anything to your tank(At least a mini one after it's established..). In this case, if you just had a bare tank, technically, nothing has cycled yet.
wooden_reefer
New member
Technically cycling does not take three months. It is a matter of definition and I am not suggesting that a reef tank is mature in microbes in less than three months.
More comprehesive mircobes besides nitrification can take a long time, but cycling does not take three months. In fact, if nitrification takes three month, it is not a cycle but gradual increase in bacteria growth without showing a cycle.
Definition is important in discussion.
Cycling refers to the raise and rapid fall of nitrite--hence a "cycle". The term cycle has been around long before reef.
For example, when I say it takes about 4 weeks to cycle medium intended for QT, nitrification and the rise and fall of nitrite is what I am referring to.
Ammonia should be zero after a cycle. An inexpensive test kit cannot detect very low ammonia.
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Ammonia is never zero in a reef tank to be very precise in definition. Degradation is ongoing from respiration waste and food sources and decay .
My api test kit crosschecks well with the Salifert,fwiw.. A zero reading is what you want to see on hobby grade test kits;price doesn't mean quality.
NSW ranges in ammonia :
from this article by Randy H. Farely:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php#4
"...The concentration of ammonia in the ocean varies substantially, from less than 0.002 ppm to as much as 0.7 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N, but is usually very low in surface seawater (<0.02 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N).<sup>3</sup> For example, the seawater intake at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (on Coconut Island, Oahu, HI; 150 feet from shore and 20 feet down) was found to have an ammonia level that ranged over 0.0025 ± 0.0021 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N.<sup>3</sup> Remote ocean surface waters are reported to have 0.006 ± 0.004 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N.<sup>3"</sup>
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My api test kit crosschecks well with the Salifert,fwiw.. A zero reading is what you want to see on hobby grade test kits;price doesn't mean quality.
NSW ranges in ammonia :
from this article by Randy H. Farely:
http://reefkeeping.com/issues/2007-02/rhf/index.php#4
"...The concentration of ammonia in the ocean varies substantially, from less than 0.002 ppm to as much as 0.7 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N, but is usually very low in surface seawater (<0.02 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N).<sup>3</sup> For example, the seawater intake at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology (on Coconut Island, Oahu, HI; 150 feet from shore and 20 feet down) was found to have an ammonia level that ranged over 0.0025 ± 0.0021 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N.<sup>3</sup> Remote ocean surface waters are reported to have 0.006 ± 0.004 ppm total NH<sub>4</sub>-N.<sup>3"</sup>
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</sup>
my api ammonia kit looks just about bannana yellow when i test. (never really do anymore except after new additions to bioload
However if i let it set too long before reading. (over the recommended 5 min.) it will start to get a slight green tint to it. After a day it looks real gross (when i forget about it on top of the dresser hehe)
However if i let it set too long before reading. (over the recommended 5 min.) it will start to get a slight green tint to it. After a day it looks real gross (when i forget about it on top of the dresser hehe)
