Impossible ammonia

angiedal712

angiedal712

New member
Hello, so I had a 15 g biocube. Magnesium levels were great, salinity was great, ph was slightly off. Phosphate levels were good. There was nothing in the tank but the coral life live sand. The ammonia was insane for two months the levels stayed the same. I drained the water and used distilled and cycled my tank again. I decided to test the water again being sure that their shouldn't be any signs of ammonia. And there it was, 8.3. I am so stumped on this ammonia problem and can't understand it. If someone could help me solve this it would be great thanks!!:lolspin:
 
Please do not take offence, just asking. You are not mixing up your PH and NH3 tests right? Just saying 8.3 ph is expected 8.3 for ammonia is insanely high unless you were spiking it on purpose.

Also double check your testing procedures.
 
^ reasonable question to ask since that's a good reading for PH. Also, Angie when you say cycled, what did you do to cycle it? Because typically testing is done throughout the cycle so you should have been informed of the high ammonia from the start. What test kit are you using?
 
you made an error in testing somewhere...
Take a sample of the water to a local store and have them check it..
 
What does great mean? What does slightly off mean? Actual numbers help.

And why test for magnesium?


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I am using the API saltwater test kit. To cycle my tank i tried adding some brine shrimp and i also had 10lbs of live rock in my tank.
 
jayball said:
Please do not take offence, just asking. You are not mixing up your PH and NH3 tests right? Just saying 8.3 ph is expected 8.3 for ammonia is insanely high unless you were spiking it on purpose.

Also double check your testing procedures.
Click to expand...
Non taken, i do not believe i was mixing them up, but something that i did find was my tap what had high ammonia in it could that be a cause?
 
According to instructions,

To detox cholramines, you need to use 5ml/30g

Did you use that dosage?

Even then, using tap water for a reef tank is not a good idea. It may have contaminates that will add up and may eventually cause major issues.


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vhuang168 said:
According to instructions,

To detox cholramines, you need to use 5ml/30g

Did you use that dosage?

Even then, using tap water for a reef tank is not a good idea. It may have contaminates that will add up and may eventually cause major issues.


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Click to expand...
Yep, i read the direction carefully. I also used distilled water? but i can't see how that could be a problem.
 
Lol then why did you mention your tap has high ammonia? Do you use the tap in anyway in the tank?


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vhuang168 said:
Lol then why did you mention your tap has high ammonia? Do you use the tap in anyway in the tank?


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Click to expand...



Originally my tank used tap, so i tested my tap and it had high ammonia. Then i converted to using distilled water but my levels didn't change lol


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I would take a sample and have it tested by someone else.

List all the test results you have. Good and great and slightly off don't help us help you.

As I understand it, you have no rock, just live sand and water. What did you use to start the cycle? What were your readings like thorough the cycle?
 
I had 5lbs of live rock in my tank, Nitrates= 0ppm Phosphate= 1.0 ppm Kh= 240 Ph= 7.5 Nitrite= 0 ppm Gh= 180


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