Having difficulties interpreting API ammonia

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Would anyone be able to help with interpreting the ammonia results here? 

To me it looks like 0.5ppm ammonia 

                                  0.25 ppm nitrites 

                                   5-10ppm nitrates 

& pH 7.8 

 

Fwiw since swapping to RODI my kH is now 11 😁

 

But I'm struggling with matching the ammonia to any of the chart colours. Photos taken in natural light without flash. 

 

[DevilDuck]

Did you start with dry rock?

Did you dose ammonia? How much?

How long has the cycle been running?

From you photos ammonia looks to be between .25-.50 ppm

[M. Tournesol]

Normal 🤣, ammonia test kits are inaccurate at a low level. My salifert test kit depending on the position of the light source gives me 0ppm or 0.25ppm 🤪and it's not better with photo. Since my fishes have been alive for 3 months in my tank, I consider the true value to be 0ppm 🙄. But a @DevilDuck pointed, your look between .25ppm and .50ppm. Look like more yellow equal less ammonia for API test kit.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

oooh ok.

I put some dr tim's in yesterday and now have nitrates  (not much though) so I think it might be pretty close to cycled now. ...? I dosed with 2ppm ammonia four? days ago now I think, maybe less

[M. Tournesol]

According to external source, your are not finished .

Quote

Continue to measure every day. When you can add 2 ppm ammonia and BOTH ammonia and nitrite are below 0.2 ppm (NH3-N or NO2-N) the next day your tank is cycled. Congrats, you're done!

 

[seabass]

11 minutes ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

I'm struggling with matching the ammonia to any of the chart colours. Photos taken in natural light without flash.

It can be challenging.  In addition to lighting, viewing angles matter, but the isolated pic looks like a pretty good match to 0.5ppm.  Also, in between values can be hard to interpret.

 

1 minute ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

I put some dr tim's in yesterday and now have nitrates  (not much though) so I think it might be pretty close to cycled now. ...? I dosed with 2ppm ammonia four? days ago now I think, maybe less

DrTim's One & Only, or DrTim's Ammonium Chloride?

 

If fishless cycling dry rock, you should dose ammonia up to 2ppm then let it fall to 0.25ppm.  Keep repeating until your tank can process that within 24 hours.

 

If cycling live rock, just wait until ammonia becomes undetectable.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Apologies- I dosed up to 2ppm with Dr Tim's ammonium chloride then yesterday added Dr Tim's one only 🙂 it's live rock, so I'm just testing each day until there's no ammonia and nitrites and nitrates in the range of 15-20ppm before adding livestock and corals. 

 

[Tired]

Your tank is probably cycled. That's the benefit of live rock. Looks like you got some decent rock, too, there's a nice mix of colors. 

 

You want to have some nitrates and phosphates before you add corals, but you just need 0.03 or more phosphate and 5ppm or more nitrates, not 15-20ppm nitrates. Algae uses that stuff up, so you may never see 15ppm with the ammonia you've added so far. 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

That sounds optimistic. I did wonder about the nitrates but my lighting is quite high and there's a lot of diatoms at the moment. Regardless I will keep testing and see. It was from an already established tank so should theoretically already be cycled although I was expecting a cycle blip, hence having the Dr Tim's one and only on hand. 

I'm sort of hoping to go to my lfs this weekend for livestock if all goes well. But aware that might be being overly hopeful; I don't want to rush things.

[Clown79]

Looks like it matches 0.5 ammonia

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Would anyone be able to weigh in on today's readings? Thinking 0.25, 0.25, 5-10 

 

 

pH and kh same as yesterday, 7.8 and 11 respectively 

 

 

Sorry for being such a pain

[PeterU]

0.5 / 0.0 /  5-10

[seabass]

The API ammonia test kit seems particularly sensitive to low levels of ammonia.  As levels decline, it will continue to appear more yellow and less green.  I don't consider these to be bad readings, as it is indicating the presence of actual ammonia; however, interpreting the exact level within these low ranges can be difficult.

 

Again, lighting and viewing angles can also affect our interpretation of the results.  If pressed, I'd say that the following is less than 0.25ppm.

While this is a good sign, I'd wait a few more days, continuing to monitor levels.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

6 minutes ago, seabass said:

The API ammonia test kit seems particularly sensitive to low levels of ammonia.  As levels decline, it will continue to appear more yellow and less green.  I don't consider these to be bad readings, as it is indicating the presence of actual ammonia; however, interpreting the exact level within these low ranges can be difficult.

 

Again, lighting and viewing angles can also affect our interpretation of the results.  If pressed, I'd say that the following is less than 0.25ppm.

While this is a good sign, I'd wait a few more days, continuing to monitor levels.

Thank you. Compared with yesterday's results it's definitely got more of a yellow tinge to it.

 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

Ok.... So these are today's results. To me the ammonia is still reading 0.25-0.5ppm with API but nitrite looks like zero and nitrate 5-10ppm

With the salifert kit ammonia looks like <0.15ppm . Not sure my photo angle on the salifert was the best but it was opaque white, no yellow to it.

 

I feel like it's pretty close to, but not quite, fully cycled

[gena]

Here is a perfect example of why we wait :).  Looks like you had something die off (a big fat worm maybe?) and kick up the ammonia again! 

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

6 minutes ago, gena said:

Here is a perfect example of why we wait :).  Looks like you had something die off (a big fat worm maybe?) and kick up the ammonia again! 

There's nothing in there to die off, though? 

[seabass]

19 minutes ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

I feel like it's pretty close to, but not quite, fully cycled

That's not close to being able to add livestock (well over 0.25ppm, maybe closer to 0.5ppm).

[gena]

5 minutes ago, InAtTheDeepEnd said:

There's nothing in there to die off, though? 

Something happened between last Friday and today though.  Did you dose ammonia?

 

It looks between 0.50 and 1.0 to me.  of course maybe in person it's different, but that's what I'm seeing.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

10 minutes ago, gena said:

Something happened between last Friday and today though.  Did you dose ammonia?

 

It looks between 0.50 and 1.0 to me.  of course maybe in person it's different, but that's what I'm seeing.

No, I haven't touched it lol 

 

It has definitely gone up from 0.25ppm to 0.5ppm according to the API kit though 😕

 

 

😞

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

At what point in the cycle can I add photosynthetic soft corals? They'll help nutrient uptake, but will also be harmed by the ammonia right?

 

 

I love the aquarium hobby but maaaaan do I HATE fishless cycling! 😂 (And let's be honest that's one of the most important bits)

[seabass]

Once ammonia is undetectable, you can slowly start adding livestock.  Although, young tanks usually go through an "ugly stage" where a number of blooms occur as the tank matures.  Ideally, you wouldn't have coral in your tank during this time (but many of us are impatient and do).

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

In which case I might add macroalgae, my soft corals and more Dr Tim's one and only and keep testing. Would that work? I can always do a wc if the corals seem unhappy. Corals after macro and bb

[seabass]

I'd just dump the rest of your DrTim's One & Only in your tank.  The measurements recommended on the bottle are some sort of minimum.  I think they used to recommend using it all at once.

[InAtTheDeepEnd]

1 minute ago, seabass said:

I'd just dump the rest of your DrTim's One & Only in your tank.  The measurements recommended on the bottle are some sort of minimum.  I think they used to recommend using it all at once. 

Oh I meant buy another bottle and Chuck it all in. My first bottle I did just put it all in at once a few days after dosing with ammonia drops 🙂