ammonia/nitrie wont hit 0

[Polscot]

hey, i would appreciate anoyones help, ive had year of exp with freshwater tanks but im making my first go around with a reef tank, i have a 6 gallon fluval edge, its been 6 weeks and my ammonia and nitrite wont hit 0 i have proper nitrate and proper calcium, my clowns are happy and my coraline is growing well, im running a 20" power compact ontop of the tank and roughly 7-8lbs live rock with 1inch live sand bed.........im adding "live nitrifiers" from my local fish store which are suppose to cycle the tank.....any info would help greatly

[cheryl jordan]

 

 

 

With two clowns in a 6 gal you will probably have a hard time keeping the ammonia and nitrates down.

[Gromit1710]

What type of test kit are you using?

 

And

 

What is the tank's current readings of Ammonia and Nitrites?

 

Some test kits aren't precise. My API kit says my Nitrates are at 20, but the LFS tester says I'm at 05.

[Polscot]

my ammonia is at 0.6 and nitrite is at 0.1 i do roughtly 1g water changes per week

 

oh, its a "nutrafin" test kit

[Gromit1710]

Huh...

 

Try a larger WC maybe? go for 50%?

 

I don't know.

 

Take a sample into your LFS. See what they say.

[Polscot]

are .6 and .1 bad readings? not as good as 0 i know but will the fish be alright

[Gromit1710]

are .6 and .1 bad readings? not as good as 0 i know but will the fish be alright

 

Yeah, they'll be fine.

 

Just don't slack off on your water changes till it gets better.

[Polscot]

cool, appreciate the help. alot of people are sceptical of the fluval edge reef so im going to prove them wrong

[nole1968]

cool, appreciate the help. alot of people are sceptical of the fluval edge reef so im going to prove them wrong

 

I would def do 1 50% WC and 30% a week. 2 clowns in that tank will generate some waste. Bigger WC's should solve the issue.

[mxpro32]

cool, appreciate the help. alot of people are sceptical of the fluval edge reef so im going to prove them wrong

 

Who is skeptical of the fluval edge reef? I would definitely try a different test kit.

[blasterman]

im adding "live nitrifiers" from my local fish store which are suppose to cycle the tank.....

 

 

Tank *is* cycled - stop doing that.

 

Also, massive water changes will make the problem worse, not better. All that does is cause the ammonia to suddenly drop, then climb back up as fish respirate, then the bacteria have to catch up again. You want a steady rate of waste being converted to nitrate/nitrate, and actually doing more harm that good with the extra gymnastics.

 

Stop messing with the extra work and "live nitrifiers", do regular water maintenance water changes, and the ammo/nitrite levels will slowly drop to zero. This assumes of course you have enough LR and subtrate and water flow in the tank, which I'll be fair and assume you do.

[timdanger]

any number of things could be causing that -- was your live rock cured? did you scrub off any dead things prior to putting it in the tank? any sponges on it? did you ever have 0 ammonia/nitrite before adding the fish? you could try a different test kit (is it possible yours are expired?), but 6 weeks is by no means "too long" to wait for a cycle to finish.

 

based on where you are now, your best option is to get the fish out if you can have someone hold them for you or if you can put them in a quarantine tank until your fluval finishes cycling.

 

if you are unwilling to do that, it's trickier. i'm going to disagree with what the previous poster said about not doing water changes. you don't want to let the fish just swim around in those poor water conditions. even if they don't die from it (which they very well could from any sort of prolonged exposure), it's bad for them. water changes may slow down the cycling somewhat, but it might be better for your fish that way. i would recommend doing an immediate large water change (35% to 50%), and then monitor your ammonia/nitrite going forward, doing smaller water changes as necessary.

 

in addition to the water changes, i would definitely recommend dosing Seachem Prime to reduce the ammonia/nitrite levels immediately (and dosing with every water change). i would also recommend running activated carbon as part of your filtration system if you're not already doing that already.

 

i will agree with stopping the addition of the nitrifying bacteria, though.

 

Tank *is* cycled - stop doing that.

 

i don't see why you say that -- it clearly seems to not be cycled.

 

Also, massive water changes will make the problem worse, not better. All that does is cause the ammonia to suddenly drop, then climb back up as fish respirate, then the bacteria have to catch up again. You want a steady rate of waste being converted to nitrate/nitrate, and actually doing more harm that good with the extra gymnastics.

 

in a sense, and to a point, i agree -- but, in the meantime, he has to take care of the livestock he has. the bacteria will continue to colonize even if he does water changes. the water changes don't stop the bacteria colonization process, they just slow it down. bacteria is certainly in the water, but more of it is on aquarium surfaces and in the live rock/sand.

 

OP, you may want to also consider doing a water change with water from an established system to help seed your tank. that may help your colonization efforts.

 

Stop messing with the extra work and "live nitrifiers", do regular water maintenance water changes, and the ammo/nitrite levels will slowly drop to zero. This assumes of course you have enough LR and subtrate and water flow in the tank, which I'll be fair and assume you do.

 

he seems to have adequate live rock/live sand.