Ammonia Hasn't Dropped Below 1ppm

[Ajang]

Hi,

Our fishless cycle has been going quite well - ammonia dropped to 0 after 10 days. We halved the ammonia we were adding but the levels crept back up to 1 - 1.5 ppm over the next 3 days. It's stayed at 1ppm for the last week.

The nitrite dropped to 0 on this morning's test but the ammonia is still at 1ppm. Any ideas on why our ammonia isn't dropping to zero? I'd appreciate any advice you can give as I've read all the pinned topics and searched the board for an answer, but I'm at a bit of a loss as to what to do next.

The tank is a 200l AR980 wet/dry trickle filter and we have quite a lot of plants. I switched from the Tetra kit to the API test kit but it's giving the same results.

Thanks,
Gill

 

[polypterus]

I can't tell you what the exact problem is but I can tell you I have had similar problems when trying to use wet/dry filters. I'm not a fan of them anymore. Is this a fresh or marine tank? What do you have in the wet section? One of my theories is that the wet filter media shifts causing the water flow to change within the dry section. My advice is to add some good bio filter media to the wet section if you haven't already done so. I like the ceramic beads myself.

 

[Ajang]

Hi,

Thanks for your response.

Based on your reply, maybe the filter isn't a wet/dry filter. It's built into the hood and has three sections containing ceramic noodles, two sponge layers (different densities) and bags of carbon. The water is drawn up into a spray bar which sprays water across the filter material which then drains back into the tank via an outlet at the end.

The tank is fresh water and we plan to keep a tropical community. Some of our plants haven't taken and are rotting - we try to take the dead stuff out regulary but could this be affecting the ammonia?

Given that our nitrite only dropped to 0 yesterday, is it worth keeping the status quo for a couple of days (ie keep adding some ammonia) to see if the whole process levels out?

Thanks,
Gill

 

[polypterus]

Actually it sounds like some sort of wet/dry or at least dry. It's not the classic wet/dry with the two nested Plexiglas boxes but it's probably meant to work on the same principal. In any case ignore my last post for now. Are you adding ammonia every day or did you just add it all in the beginning? I personally like the method where you add some every day because I think it gives you less water quality swings. As for rotting plants, yes they can contribute to ammonia. In fact I have heard stories of people using a small rotting fish to cycle their tanks. I never tried it myself though. If your tank is cycled the filter should be able to handle a few rotting leaves. For now I would just let keep adding a little ammonia every day for a while and see if things settle. You have a good name for a fishkeeper by the way

 

[Majjie]

Have you tested for nitrate? If it's high, I'd do a really big water change - then try adding more ammonia and see what happens.

If the tank is cycled then the ammonia from rotting plants shouldn't be any problem

 

[Ajang]

Hi,

Thanks for your replies.

We've been adding a little ammonia each day, enough to keep it at 3 - 4 ppm. Our nitrite dropped to 0 overnight and the nitrate is off the scale - that's why I was looking for help - the tank seemed to be cycled apart from the small amounts of ammonia.

I think we may do a water change today and add some more ammonia for a couple of days to see if it settles down.

PS Glad our name is appropriate - it was by accident. I combined mine and my hubbies initials and came up with ajang (I'm going to look it up now to see what it is!).

Gill

 

[scubadoo]

I think poly meant Gill (with a hard G) !

 

[Ajang]

I think poly meant Gill (with a hard G) !

Oops! My only excuse is that it was early for someone who's on holiday!