Ammonia after cycling

[danw]

Hey guys,

Have an established 150gal that has 9 discus and 2 angels in it at the moment.

Ammonia is constantly reading 0.25ppm - 0.5ppm on my API test kit

Results of testing are

Ammonia 0.25ppm - 0.5ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 5ppm

Have tested my tap and my other tank, both of these correctly show 0 ammonia.

Ammonia reading is constant, never goes up or down, am a little confused why it is still there tho.

[Wes]

Are you using prime or safe to declorinate?. They give a false positive on many test kits.
Do you have substrate?
How often are u doing water changes and how much?

[danw]

Prime in both tanks. I'd think it would give a positive in both if it was going too.

Substrate is Gravel.

Water Changes are 50% ish every 2-3 days.

[Wes]

I would do a couple extra water changes vacuuming that gravel real good. Do a double dose of prime it will turn any ammonia harmless to your fish.

[Chicago Discus]

How long has the tank been running?

[nc0gnet0]

I would first buy a new test kit and make sure your reading the color chart/ test tube in natural lighting, preferably sunlight. Sometimes artificial lighting can skew the readings. Next do a side by side comparison of treated tap and tank water and look for differences in color. It is possible that you do indeed have ammonia in your tank, but to have a constant and low reading is a bit odd. Eliminate the source water and test kit first and if your still convinced you have ammonia in your tank after doing so, then move on to finding the problem in your tank.

Rick

[zimmjeff]

If you stir it up you will be amazed at the amount of stuff in your gravel. I would be willing to bet that is what it is.

[danw]

Tanks been running a few months now,

Test of Tap water and another tank comes up yellow, tests from the discus tank still come up .25 ish i beleive that eliminates the test kit

I've done 2 50% water changes this weekend both with a good vacuum of the gravel, ripped out all the tropical plants my Girlfriend put in, rinsed my filter in tank water and planted some discus environment friendly plants today.

Will see how it goes during the week.

Also found i mixed up the order last time i put it back together and had the Blue Pad after the white one in the filter (FX5) the poor water polishing pad was nearly melting it was so brown :)

[jimg]

more than likely your load is larger than the amount of bacteria can handle now. cut back on the cleanings of glass, filters and water changes and feedings until they become established more. vacuuming gravel good still do.it may have cycled but is not established enough.add a couple sponge filters to the tank is a good idea too.

[danw]

Seems like something was rotting in the tank leeching ammonia.

Ammonia was testing 0 last night :)