ammonia testing

[fishylove]

Hi all,

details-
10 gallons
no live plants
2 platys, 5 neon tetras, 2 mollies
Purchased fish tank 2 weeks back
set it up by adding stress zyme and let water run for 1 week before adding fish
Did not do any ammonia testing

Yesterday bought following for ammonia checking-
1] Mardel live NH3- this is supposed to be kept in tank to give live feed on ammonia in tank
2] ammonia remover

I attached the live NH3 in the tank and it is showing safe reading...now there are three possiblities
1] either it is not working
2] ammonia levels are really safe (0.00)
3] or the cycle has not started. If not when will it start?

can anyone help me with this?

Fishy Love

PS: I went through the sticky notes too, and i didnt get chance to do anything mentioned there as my ammonia levels are showing safe.

 

[CAPSLOCK]

Did you add any ammonia remover? That might change it so that the ammonia reader doesn't pick up on it...

The cycle would have started by now (fish have been in there about a week, right?). The fish produce ammonia, so zero ammonia after the fish have been in the tank for a week would imply that the tank is cycled (or that the ammonia remover has "removed" it).

 

[fishylove]

I havent added the ammonia remover as yet as I was confused...I have added the fish 6 days back (three were added yesterday only)

 

[FroggyFox]

I think maybe your cycle hasn't started yet. Keep testing every other day or so. Have you tested for nitrites or nitrates yet? One way to see if things are progressing would be if you have any nitrites or nitrates in the tank (and they aren't there from your tap water) If you had 0 ammonia and a few nitrites then I'd say youre probably past the ammonia stage of the cycle. If you have 0, 0, 0 then your fish basically haven't produced enough ammonia yet to start building up in the tank.

 

[fishylove]

My nitrites level show somewhere between 0 to 0.5...i use the test strips and find it really irritating for paler colors...for nitrites it shows safe zone on strip too

if suppose my tank cycle has not started, will it affect the fish when i am trying to adjust the ammonia levels in tank...in my previous post someone suggested and neon tetras do not adapt to such cycle changes

fishy love

 

[homebunnyj]

The only way you should adjust the ammonia level in a fish-in cycle is water changes to bring ammonia down to tolerable levels. Adding stuff to absorb or break down the ammonia will starve the bacteria you are trying to grow, so just use water changes to keep it below 1.0 or thereabouts. Neons aren't great for cycling.

 

[fishylove]

I have been changing water frequently because of other problem (water temperature)....is it because of that ammonia level is normal?? I change like 1 gallon of water everyday out of 10 gallons

 

[homebunnyj]

Could be.

 

[fishylove]

I checked the details on Stress Zyme (by aquarium pharmaceuticals)...on the bottle it says- its a biological filtration Booster


On the back it says- Contains Millions of live bacteria that speed the development of the biological filter to eliminate ammonia and nitrite

Does that mean that I had already cycled my fish tank before adding fish to it?

also, Is anyone using this product??

Fishy love

 

[fishylove]

i just found that stress zyme speeds up the cycle
http://www.myfishtank.net/articles/fishlesscycle.php

Maybe i should just wait and watch for some time...right now everything looks normal

will harass you in couple of days

Fishy love

 

[tessalion]

As that article points out, Stress Zyme is in the category of Cycle, neither of them really actually work. The only two products that i've heard work in speeding up a cycle are Biospira and Seachem Stability.

 

[Chris89]

I have been changing water frequently because of other problem (water temperature)....is it because of that ammonia level is normal?? I change like 1 gallon of water everyday out of 10 gallons

When I was cycling my tank, I did about a 15% water change every other day, yet my ammonia kept rising, then I read somewhere that fish produce more ammonia when they are stressed, so I halted the water changes for about a week, and the ammonia went down. I may have just been lucky and it could have been the end of the ammonia spike in my cycle, or it really could have worked. I don't want to give bad advice that might harm your tank even more, but I was just throwing the idea out there. Actually...I'm not even sure anymore if I'm answering your question, or asking one myself

 

[JustOneMore20]

You should definitely be showing ammonia by now IMO because it seems you are a little overstocked. Also, like mentioned above, neons aren't the hardiest fish, so make sure you keep a check on the ammonia and nitrites.

Honestly, I'd go out and get a liquid test kit. The strips can be really inaccurate. The Aquarium Pharmaceuticals master kit is really good and inexpensive. If you live in the US and have a Petsmart nearby, go to their website and look for the master kit. Print out the page, with the price and take it to the nearest Petsmart. They will match the price (which is cheaper online than in the store)...its usually around $15, though I haven't checked their site lately so it could be cheaper. IMO its well worth the money. You'll have a better reading with a liquid kit. Don't rely on the Mardel thing to alert you for ammonia. I'd go by the ammonia test kit (liquid) instead.

Also, I wouldn't add the ammonia remover to your tank. It could give you false readings when you get a good kit. If the ammonia gets over 1ppm, I'd do a water change of about 25%. If you have to do water changes daily, its fine...just don't mess with the gravel or filter media.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

As that article points out, Stress Zyme is in the category of Cycle, neither of them really actually work. The only two products that i've heard work in speeding up a cycle are Biospira and Seachem Stability.

I will have to disagree, lol. I cycled my 29G tank in under 2 weeks with just using Stress Zyme. Cycle on the other hand is Useless, I agree with that one.

I've also heard of people in other forums getting an almost instant cycle by soaking their filter sponge in Stress Zyme for an hour or 2, then placing in their filter and pouring the rest in the tank.

Bio-Spira is the best IMO. I've never tried Stability, so I don't know with that one. No experience with it.

 

[fishylove]

I have been checking the ammonia levels daily (with the same kit- The kit did give a change in reading when ammonia levels went up, so it is working). ammonia level went up once--the day my platies/mollies gave babies (dont know who), i again did partial water change with stress zyme and ammonia level are normal so far. (yesterday night and whole day today)

all the fish look good so far

Fishy love