I think you should've let your beneficial bacteria reestablish after the water change.
( Sorry for the Long story )
Hi guys , i Cycled my tank using ans shrimp soil which produces ammonia source for Cycling a tank . At day 7 of Cycling my ammonia stopped producing from the soil so I used ammonia powder to add 4ppm for another 7 days . On the day 15th I added 4 ppm of ammonia as usual and within 12-14 hours I left with 0.50ppm ammonia so I added more to "challenge" my bb on the day 16th I checked ammonia 0 again so I tested it again with 2ppm on the evening of day 17th I check again it's 0 so I assume it's done with cycle as I have 0 ammonia 0 nitrite and off chart nitrate . So I began to do a water change to lower nitrate . After doing so I add in 20 cherry shrimp into my 1.5ft tank , even before I add them I checked my ammonia and nitrite again to confirm . So after adding those shrimp in after 3-4 hours they are happily staying in their New home but I am not that happy . I found ammonia at 0.50ppm and nitrite in the water . I checked again every 6 hours but the ammonia level is constantly at 0.50ppm till today it been 3rd day .
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I think you should've let your beneficial bacteria reestablish after the water change.
What should I do now ? Till today I still getting 0.25 ammonia
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The ammonia could be the death in bb.
Assuming ur bb had established during the 1st and 2nd time u added the powder, since u are "challenging" ur bb to do hard work, more bb will be produced.
After u did a wc, without the addition of ammonia, ur bb are starved causing a rise in ammonia.
Ur only savour would be seachem prime. After adding it let ur bb do the job. Do not perform wc within the next 48 hours once ur ammonia reach 0
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Alright thanks I will try to use prime for now
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Patience is the fundamental basis of this hobby. Your tank is not established. It takes 1 month to fully cycle a tank, it's even longer for a larger tank. Within 2 weeks you added shrimps and overloaded the bio filter. You currently have high ammonia and nitrate. That is expected. I believe some users here on this forum had already asked you to wait for the cycle to complete.
When your bio filtration is not working, your API Nitrite level will be purple in color > 5PPM (Nitrite not Nitrate mind you). Ammonia comes from various sources, not just BB die off. An establish BB is resilient and does not starve and die off unless you use biocin, eythromycin, chlorine or overdose on hydrogen peroxide. BB takes time to build up which is why we have been telling newbies to add live stock slowly over a few weeks.
Ammonia powder should not have been added nor should it be advised by fellow hobbyist to add. It is not necessary. Ammonia causes algae and is toxic to live stock. I believe ANS soil like ADA aquasoil already leeches ammonia to help build up BB colony.
To reduce Ammonia, do your partial water change. Depending on the size of the tank >65 Litres, 5-10% every alternate day is fine. Water parameters will not change immediately, you will need to wait 24-48 hours for it to establish and stabilize.
Also note that Seachem Prime DOES NOT remove Ammonia. It removes chlorine from the water then binds with ammonia until it can be consumed by your bio filter.
Last edited by torque6; 19th Sep 2017 at 02:41.
If ammonia powder shouldn't be use what can I feed my bb ? Sorry newbie as I read others using baking ammonia so I decided to use that also as my soil stop giving me ammonia after one week
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Normally we feed shrimp and fish. Not sure why you are feeding bacteria......
Ammonia comes from live stock through waste......
I mean if I don't put live stock in , as you said 1 month to cycle I need to maintain my bb else they will die
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Ans soil and ada soil already leeches ammonia. You do not need to do anything.
I am using ans soil and it only leeches 7 days of ammonia
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Hello, you can add plants and do routine water changes, stock slowly and do basic maintenance.
There has never been a reason to do fishless cycle. You can google Nitrogen cycle.
Disadvantage to using Ammonium Chlorine for fishless cycle include the following:-
1) You need to use pure ammonia
2) difficult to mix for the right concentration
3) heavy ammonia has a very high PH and smells like ammonia gas
4) only enough bacteria will be established to take care of the ammonia added to the tank during the cycling period. There will still be high ammonia + nitrate when you add shrimps later.
Sorry ammonium chlorine is the baking ammonia ?
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By the way, fishless cycle if keeping Monster Fish or Arowana, can use liquid Ammonia. C328 used to sell them a long time back, can't confirm if they are still selling.
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