Amonia At .25 According To Api Kit On My 10 Gallon Tank

[shaolin95]

Hi!
Just tested my wife's tank and it shows ammonia at about .25 on the API kit (the greenish bar below the top yellow).
I got Ammo lock but not sure if that is to strong for a small read like this.

Also on my 55 gallon tank everything is fine but it seems Nitrate is reading 5 instead of 0 again all using the API test kit.
Should I be worried here?


Thanks

 

[fatheadminnow]

Hi!
Just tested my wife's tank and it shows ammonia at about .25 on the API kit (the greenish bar below the top yellow).
I got Ammo lock but not sure if that is to strong for a small read like this.

Also on my 55 gallon tank everything is fine but it seems Nitrate is reading 5 instead of 0 again all using the API test kit.
Should I be worried here?


Thanks

Don't bother on using Ammo lock.

You need to do a water change asap to get that .25 ammonia level down to 0 ppm.

Nitrate is okay up to about 40-50 ppm. So 5 ppm is just fine.

-FHM

 

[arobinson1984]

On the 10 gal, if that tank is fully cycled then ammonia should always read 0. A few things that may cause slight ammonia reasons are:

1. Adding new fish
2. Insufficient gravel cleaning, should be deep cleaned weekly
3. A dead rotting fish or plants
4. An ammonia reading in your tap water
5. Insufficient filtration

regarding the 55 gal, nitrates at 5 is very good, it's unlikely you will get a zero reading of nitrates unless the tank is very heavily planted. Always aim to keep the nitrates below about 40ppm with weekly water changes.

Also just to confirm, are you shaking the bottles and test tube as instructed for the nitrate test as it's different to the ammonia one.

Andy

 

[shaolin95]

On the 10 gal, if that tank is fully cycled then ammonia should always read 0. A few things that may cause slight ammonia reasons are:

1. Adding new fish
2. Insufficient gravel cleaning, should be deep cleaned weekly
3. A dead rotting fish or plants
4. An ammonia reading in your tap water
5. Insufficient filtration

regarding the 55 gal, nitrates at 5 is very good, it's unlikely you will get a zero reading of nitrates unless the tank is very heavily planted. Always aim to keep the nitrates below about 40ppm with weekly water changes.

Also just to confirm, are you shaking the bottles and test tube as instructed for the nitrate test as it's different to the ammonia one.

Andy

Yes I am shacking them all by the instruction booklet.
Both the 10 and 55 showed 5 for Nitrate but unfortunately only the 55 showed the 0 in Ammonia.
I did add two extra gold fish and one clown pleco to the 10 so maybe that caused it.
So even that amount is too much?

BTW why not to use the Ammo lock?

 

[fatheadminnow]

What brand of ammo-lock?

Certain brands will neutralize ammonia, which would not allow a tank to cycle at all.

Are your tanks cycled though?

-FHM

 

[shaolin95]

What brand of ammo-lock?

Certain brands will neutralize ammonia, which would not allow a tank to cycle at all.

Are your tanks cycled though?

-FHM

The 55 has been just up since Sunday but it was running for a month previously and I kept 10 gallons from the previous water plus the Fluval 305 kept all the water as well.
The 10 gallon has been running for about 2 months now.
Ammo lock by API.

 

[fatheadminnow]

What brand of ammo-lock?

Certain brands will neutralize ammonia, which would not allow a tank to cycle at all.

Are your tanks cycled though?

-FHM

The 55 has been just up since Sunday but it was running for a month previously and I kept 10 gallons from the previous water plus the Fluval 305 kept all the water as well.
The 10 gallon has been running for about 2 months now.
Ammo lock by API.

Okay, I am pretty sure that ammo lock is just fine, but personally, IMO, I would not use it. The only thing that I add to my tank is water conditioner, everything else is all natural.

For the 55 gallon, did you also keep all of the filer media in the filer as well? Because your bacteria colonize in your filter, not in the water. So keeping 10 gallons of water, most likely did not do much.

As for the 10 gallon, you are probably at the end of a fish-in cycle. But still, you need to check your ammonia and nitrite level everyday for a while here. If your ammonia or nitrite is above .25 ppm, do a water change to bring them down closer to zero.

When your ammonia and nitrite stay at a constant zero for like a week, without adding anything to the tank (i.e fish), then I would say your tanks are safely cycled and you can stop testing the levels.

-FHM

 

[arobinson1984]

think the 10 gal has probably already cycled and you are seeing an ammonia spike due to the fish you've added.

The 10 gal tank is way too small for goldfish, they need to be in the 55 if possible. What type of goldfish? Fancy or common? And how many?

I'm not familiar with clown plecos but there aren't many plecs that can go in a 10 gal. Bulldog plec and ottos are only thing I can think of that's suitable size wise.

Andy

 

[shaolin95]

For the 55 gallon, did you also keep all of the filer media in the filer as well? Because your bacteria colonize in your filter, not in the water. So keeping 10 gallons of water, most likely did not do much.

If by that you mean all the stuff inside the Fluval 305 filter then yes, we kept everything in there untouched and filled with water all the way home.
The 10 gallons we kept inside the fish tank with the sand and live plants.

think the 10 gal has probably already cycled and you are seeing an ammonia spike due to the fish you've added.

The 10 gal tank is way too small for goldfish, they need to be in the 55 if possible. What type of goldfish? Fancy or common? And how many?

I'm not familiar with clown plecos but there aren't many plecs that can go in a 10 gal. Bulldog plec and ottos are only thing I can think of that's suitable size wise.

Andy

Not sure on the Gold Fish but if they grow to big we will just take them to the pet store because I do not want to mix them up with my fish after reading about the different bacteria or something like that they have.

The pleco may not be a regular pleco, I think is a clown catfish or clown pleco, it grows to about 4" only. It is not a good algae eater it seems unlike my two bushynose plecos which are awesome to watch.

 

[OldMan47]

Common goldfish will grow to well over a foot long. Long before the goldfish get that size, they will be way too big for a tiny 10 gallon tank. The 2 goldfish would be just about a full stock level for your 55. If you don't intend to keep them in an appropriate tank, take them back now. You might as well stock the 10 with something that you can keep.

 

[drobbyb]

You really don't want to mix cold water fish like goldfish with tropicals. They have different requirements and they just aren't compatible.

Also ammo lock dosen't remove ammonia from the water, it simply converts it to ammonium, a less dangerous compound. After that a healthy filter with bacteria will remove the ammonium just as it would ammonia.

 

[shaolin95]

You really don't want to mix cold water fish like goldfish with tropicals. They have different requirements and they just aren't compatible.

Also ammo lock dosen't remove ammonia from the water, it simply converts it to ammonium, a less dangerous compound. After that a healthy filter with bacteria will remove the ammonium just as it would ammonia.

One question, I keep reading about used media that has bacteria already and how people even donate some...am I to undertand that you never replace the media inside your filter so that you do not lose your bacteria?

 

[drobbyb]

That's correct. The only time that you would replace it is if it starts to fall apart.

 

[fatheadminnow]

^^Yup, I agree with drobbyd!^^

You just clean the filter media off in a bucket of tank water about once a month.

-FHM

 

[ALW]

That's correct. The only time that you would replace it is if it starts to fall apart.

Even then you only replace small amounts at a time.