amonia still at .5 after 3 weeks?

by **Aude** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 4:03 pm

Hi all

Good website you have here,
a quick question if i may-

We have a 200L fluval roma which has been set up with 6 serpae tertras and 6 black widow tetras for the last 3 weeks.The fish seem fine.

It also has a cobomba aquatica plant which is thriving.

We used nutrifin cycle to try and kick start the cycng process.

We test every day and change about 5% water daily to make sure the ammonia levels dont surge and hurt the fish.

however the ammonia has been at .5 ppm for 3 weeks with no nitrite at all,
this seems like quite a long time to be stuck in this phase,am i doing anything wrong?
is there anything extra i can do or just be patient?

regards

Aude

by **tekneb** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 5:55 pm

.5 for 3 weeks isn't all that uncommon, especially considering you have a decent sized tank. The bigger the tank is the longer it takes to cycle, but also the less likely you are to have an ammonia spike thatll kill your fish. Keep up with the water changes and be patient.

by **Aude** » Sun Apr 24, 2011 7:27 pm

thats what i thought,all is well just an extra large dose of patience is required!
thanks for the advice

by **dream2reef** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 3:57 am

test your tap. add zeolite google

by **Aude** » Mon Apr 25, 2011 8:48 am

Thanks
I have tested tap water and everything reads 0
I also tested the smaller established tank and everything is zero other than nitrates so all is well there and test kit is good

I looked at zeolites,
surely this will only disguise the fact my tank has not cycled yet and nitrites will still peak at some pojnt,
probally when iv decided all is safe!

by **Alasse** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 12:01 am

Big tanks dont take that much longer to cycle, if at all my 350litre cycled in 4-5 weeks

Stop adding the Nutrifin cycle, most are a waste of money and can much with a cycle.

Is the .5 before you water change or after? Personally if the fish are not showing signs of stress i would not be doing daily waterchanges on a cycling tank. I would drop the waterchanges back to every second day (even third if the levels stayed ok)

by **Aude** » Tue Apr 26, 2011 4:57 pm

the .5 is before the water change,havent added any more botttled bacteria other than the stuff that came with the tank,
guess we just have to have patience,just needed a little reassurance

thanks all

by **dream2reef** » Thu May 05, 2011 1:14 am

Should be good. I like the masking effect of zeolite nobody knows the yo-yo motion going with the parameters. I agree with too many WC's Test more then change. your nitrates will peak like crazy dark red or whatever but check the next day, given no signs of stress or paleness. Seems to drop off. I also agree with the stopping the nutrifin. Good luck fish are easy to come by the ones that make it will own the tank like my rainbow rex.

by **yasherkoach** » Sun May 08, 2011 8:55 am

a 30% water change will solve a .5% ammonia spike

but at .5%, believe it or not, is not too bad...when it rises to 1.0%, you should be very concerned...then it gets more toxic and stresses the fish and wears heavy on the fish's gills (harder to breathe)

so don't fret over .5%, it's really okay - not ideal - but okay

by **etag** » Tue May 10, 2011 1:51 am

some tanks will stay at anywhere from .25-.50 it's not unheard of...and if your fish seem fine then let it be and switch to water changes about once every 4-5 days...

fyi...there have been tanks known to stay at 1.5-2.5 and still maintain life...it's all up to what the fish do...if they are good then leave it be...you'll do more harm then good by trying to correct it...just keep testing to make sure it doesn't spike...

amonia still at .5 after 3 weeks?

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