Strange Ammonia Reading In Newly Set Up Planted Tank

[aaronc]

Hey All
 
I set up my new Rio125 this weekend.
 
I tested the water today, more out of boredom than anything else as I am not adding fish for a few weeks yet.
 
I got some strange results.  
 
Ammonia was 2ppm (zero out of the tap)
Nitrate was about 20 (zero out of the tap)
Nitrite was somewhere between 0 and .25 - very hard to tell
 
Now these would be expected results if I were fishless cycling, but I am not.
 
There are no fish in the tank and I have not added any ammonia.

The tank is planted, but the plants look good and there is no mass of dead plant matter in the tank.
 
Anyone got any ideas as to why my ammonia and nitrate readings would be so high?
 
The nitrate one confuses me the most, as to get a reading like that would require a bacteria colony, the tank was only set up on Sunday and no mature media was added so find it hard to believe there is a colony in there.
 
I have been dosing CO2 to 30ppm as well as EI ferts.
 
Thanks
Aaron

 

[the_lock_man]

I'm quite surprised you've got 0ppm nitrate out of the tap. It's not a requirement for UK tapwater to have no nitrate, I have about 30-40 in mine.
 
Perhaps there was something organic in your substrate? Long shot, I know.

 

[aaronc]

Yeah I was surprised at that too.  I have run the test 3 times, no noticable nitrate reading. 
 
I was thinking substrate, but a quick google suggests it is totally inert.
 
It is Tropica plant nutrition topped with sand in parts, and gravel in others.

 

[the_lock_man]

Maybe something in the sand or gravel, ie something that wouldn't ordinarily be in there.

 

[aaronc]

Will have to keep an eye on it.
 
Not the end of the world really as I letting the tank bed in for a few weeks before I add any fish.
 
And when I do add fish I will be adding 3 mature filter sponges
 
Just confused me

 

[aaronc]

I am guessing the nitrate is actually coming from the Dry Salts I am adding, the clue is in the name NPK - nitrate, phosphate and potassium doh
 
Aaron

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The ammonia might be due to something in the tank decaying, perhaps some parts of plants you can't see - or something else like that.  Did you double check the reading just to be sure?

 

[snazy]

Did you not use a soil base layer?

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Here are a few thoughts.
 
Aquarium plants are known bacteria starters, they have it in their roots and on the other parts. They are often suggested as a good way to seed a tank a bit when neither media nor gravel from a cycled tank is available. However, this does not explain the ammonia reading. Nitrite may or may not be present according to your post and the nitrate kit is notoriously unreliable. You need to shake the heck out it to get even close to a decent reading.
 
The salicylate ammonia test kits (the ones which now dominate the aquarium hobby) are based on color readings. A number of things can throw off results, one of which is iron in any amount. Your ferts likelytcontain iron. So perhaps your 2 ppm reading is not accurate. Finally, there is always the possibility that the ammonia test kit itself is defective. Also, the N in NPK is for Nitrogen (P = Phosphorus, K= Potassium).
 
Plants tend to take up ammonia. The more plants one has, the more ammonia they will use. So its odd for sure you have such a high reading.
 
You did not provide in depth information on your substrate or other decor/additions nor your filter. Were all there brand new items or were some of them used? If the latter, this might explain the ammonia readings. If they are all brand new, then I doubt the cause is from these things, especially if the sand/gravel are know to be tank safe.
 
I would be inclined to look to the EI ferts. I have bags of powder I have ordered for dosing. I assume the seller has sent me the right thing and that it doesn't contain anything else, but I can not prove this is true. We trust. Perhaps there is something not expected in your ferts that doesn't belong? People do make mistakes.
 
If you want to play detective. Take a clean gallon bucket or container and fill it with tap. Add an airstone and let it bubble an hour or two, then test for ammonia and nitrite. Next dose the EI ferts in proper amounts, mix the water and retest. If you really want to be precise, test each of the EI ferts one at a time. You should be able to use the same bucket of water. Add the first one test. If no ammonia, add the next and test.

 

[aaronc]

Hey TTA

Thanks for the in depth reply
 
The substrate is tropica plant nutrition topped with new sand and gravel
 
All decor is new and has not been used before.
 
I will try your suggestion about the bucket of water.  Afraid I don't have an air pump just yet so will leave it over night for the chlorine etc to evaporate.
 
I have the API Master Test Kit
 
Thanks Aaron

 

[snazy]

The substrate is tropica plant nutrition

 
Do you mean soil by that because the only thing that comes to mind is liquid fertilizer by TPN.
If it's soil, then that's your ammonia source no matter what it says on the package.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

How about it being this?

Tropica Plant Growth Substrate
 
Properties
Plant Growth Substrate acts as a long term nutrition store for waterplants, so ensuring magnificent and healthy waterplant growth. Plant Growth Substrate is a natural concentrate of clay and sphagnum, laid at the bottom of the gravel layer when you build your aquarium. Clay and sphagnum slowly release nutrients to waterplant roots and binds nutrition in the water in the bottom layer. Removing nutrition from water reduces the risk of undesirable algae growth.
Use
Plant Growth Substrate is laid in a 1 cm thick layer on the bottom of the aquarium, when the aquarium is built. The table below provides recommended Plant Growth Substrate amounts for a number of standard aquarium sizes. 
A layer of gravel of minimum 3-4 cm thick is then laid over the substrate. The gravel acts as a barrier between the concentrated Plant Growth Substrate and the water. Plants are planted in the gravel in the normal way and new roots quickly form in the substrate. When planting, disturb the substrate as little as possible, to avoid clay and sphagnum particles being mixed into the water.

from http/www.tropica.com/en/plant-care/plant-growth-substrate.aspx
(Blue color was added by me.)
 
If that is the stuff, how would it produce ammonia? Sphagnum is peat moss.
 
What is in the EI ferts? Is one of them something nitrate (for ex: potassium nitrate)? That would explain the nitrate part of your readings.

 

[snazy]

If that is the stuff, how would it produce ammonia? Sphagnum is peat moss.

 
That's why I asked whether it's soil as I couldn't find the info about the base layer. But thank you.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

yw snazy. I have been a Tropica fan for a long time and I have their site bookmarked.
 
But it occurs to me that ammonia is basically nitrogen and hydrogen.

Ammonia-nitrogen is an inorganic, dissolved form of nitrogen that can be found in water and is the preferred form for algae and plant growth. 

from http/www.unc.edu/~shashi/TablePages/ammonianitrogen.html
 
I am a non-chemist, so I wonder if it is possible for any of the the nitrogen in ferts, when dosed into a tank, to convert into ammonia by grabbing H ions? Is this even possible? Any chemists out there that can help?
 
If it is possible and the tank isn't yet cycled, and the plants don't take up all the nitrogen themselves, then it would be available to convert to ammonia. This could then build up some due to minimal bacteria established yet and to the plants not needing it. But it should start to disappear as the plants need more food due to growth and the bacteria establish to handle the rest. Of course this is predicated on ammonia being created by or brought in with one or more of the ferts.

 

[snazy]

Well, I surely came across fertilizers for aquarium containing ammonia type source, believe it or not, so it's a good idea to test the ferts.