Arod0416 Posted April 10, 2020 Share Posted April 10, 2020 I started my saltwater tank By the first day of February. With bad advise from my LFS and following YouTube videos, I was led to starting my tank in a bad way. I added several fishes all at once while my tank was cycling. My fishes are not still not dead, it’s been over 2 months now. My diatoms disappeared and now I have minimal cyano, and now I have green circles on my glass. when I use API test kit and salifert for ammonia, it is the minimum. API is 0.25 ppm and salifert is <0.15 I did a massive water change 2 weeks ago with my RODI equipment. The water is 0 TDS reading. It is a 55 gallon tank, I have a mixture of dry rock and live rock. parameters: ph: 8.2 ammonia: 0.25 ppm nitrite: 0 ppm nitrate: 40 ppm Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I almost wonder if that 0.25 is legit or an artifact of interpretation or something else and the level is really 0.0? (This kit has sensitivities.) Hard to imagine 40 ppm of nitrate being generated by an incompete nitrogen cycle. 😉 On average, a tank will cycle all by itself in 30-40 days....so IMO yours has cycled. If that's not the case, something very unusual has happened. 😉 1 Quote Link to comment
SliceGolfer Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 I tell you if I hear anything consistent with API test kits is that ammonia is showing .25ppm. Search the internet and see how many hits there are. Quote Link to comment
jservedio Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 1 hour ago, SliceGolfer said: I tell you if I hear anything consistent with API test kits is that ammonia is showing .25ppm. Search the internet and see how many hits there are. The only consistent thing I ever read or experienced with API kits is just how inconsistent they are! Quote Link to comment
Phantomwerkz Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 11 minutes ago, jservedio said: The only consistent thing I ever read or experienced with API kits is just how inconsistent they are! Starting to feel the same way. I'm only a couple of weeks in and I hate not having a definitive answer. I suspect my ammonia is reading .025 when it's really zero. We shall see if something changes this week. Salifert "seems" to be where to go next but is that really the case? Quote Link to comment
mcarroll Posted April 13, 2020 Share Posted April 13, 2020 Considering the length of time, and that you started with some live rock, and that your algae seem to have cycled up to coralline (those green circles on the glass are hard and crusty?) I personally think you're golden. 😉 Try testing some fresh mixed seawater and some tap water just to have some comparison results. Quote Link to comment
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.