[HELP] Weird tank parameters after ~2weeks into fishless cycling

[kotaaro]

Tank shot. I have placed this stick of airstone in my gravel behind the tank. hopefully you can spot the rows of bubbles.



sorry for this blurred pic of my OHF. Beneath the blue sponge are a layer of ceramic rings. Same case on the smaller compartment to the right where the outlet is.



Pic of my DW and hopefully a clearer shot of whats in my tank. Have not yet scape my gravel, will do it this weekend.

Please let me know what i need to improve on. thanks.

[VSGenesis]

Hmm...I know chlorine and ammonia makes choloromine but what i didn't know is that ammonia is still present in the tap water. But if there are trace of ammonia, there would be nitrite and nitrate present right. I'll check water later. Interesting.

Prime will convert ammonia to ammonium. I have this feeling that the reagent from the test kit somehow release the complex ammonia and is giving that false reading. Get another test kit. Different brand and retest.

From personal experience, my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is constant at 0,0,10-20 The present of nitrate tells me the bb are there. I increased food supply and increase fauna by 10 to see if my filter can take it. The ammonia went up for the first day and it went down to 0 again.

Bro you have a body of water there that is stagnant "lah" Add air stone. It's stagnant that's why got mozzies

Scaless or scale, all fish have a tolerance level.

Take picture for us bro please. Picture speaks a thousand words. And easier to identify certain mistakes that we can help you improve on.

[kotaaro]

From personal experience, my ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is constant at 0,0,10-20 The present of nitrate tells me the bb are there. I increased food supply and increase fauna by 10 to see if my filter can take it. The ammonia went up for the first day and it went down to 0 again.
.

yes bro i'm trying to achieve this as well. i can't help it if the ammonia doesn't want to give me an easier life now..ok i will try another brand then. Which are the better options? Im currently using API freshwater master test kit.

anyway pics are up. do give me your comments pls thanks.

[VSGenesis]

Sorry I post late. You already put up pictures.

Ah got surface agitation = no mozzies.

Err...sorry I'm not sure about OHF, but is the CR underneath the foam pad? Why is there 3 CR in the tank's foreground? Hehe. No need put there bro.

[VSGenesis]

yes bro i'm trying to achieve this as well. i can't help it if the ammonia doesn't want to give me an easier life now..ok i will try another brand then. Which are the better options? Im currently using API freshwater master test kit.

anyway pics are up. do give me your comments pls thanks.

Relax. It's just ammonia. It's at a low level. Heehee. If using reagent, maybe ask friends to let you use it for a week or so and then return. Or if you want, go get Seachem Ammonia Alert. It's that circle thing that looks like the wheel of fortune.

[wongce]

My opinion and guesses

1) dw still leaking ammonia from previously added ammonia.(i suggest you remove it for 1 week and retest?)
2) test kit problem, api test kit can be quite hard to read,did you read wrongly?
3) some you added without knowing it will contribute to ammonia level? Did you add anything into the tank during these period??
4) insufficient space for bb to grow,your ohf's cr is not enough?
5) do not do any WC or add anything into the tank for a week and retest.
6) inform your family members/housemates not to add anything into the tank...who knows someone might be adding stuff for you when you are not around(help you feed fish etc)...haha

Seachem prime will mask your ammonia and nitrate levels for few days. Therefore,reading might not be accurate. Have to test few days after adding prime.

[wongce]

I am staying nearby your area,my tap water's ammonia is 0.i test using cheapo test kit...prodac brand(i doubt you even heard about it..lol)

[kotaaro]

My opinion and guesses

1) dw still leaking ammonia from previously added ammonia.(i suggest you remove it for 1 week and retest?)
2) test kit problem, api test kit can be quite hard to read,did you read wrongly?
3) some you added without knowing it will contribute to ammonia level? Did you add anything into the tank during these period??
4) insufficient space for bb to grow,your ohf's cr is not enough?
5) do not do any WC or add anything into the tank for a week and retest.
6) inform your family members/housemates not to add anything into the tank...who knows someone might be adding stuff for you when you are not around(help you feed fish etc)...haha

Seachem prime will mask your ammonia and nitrate levels for few days. Therefore,reading might not be accurate. Have to test few days after adding prime.

1) previously i did try removing it, but ammonia level still there.
2)yes have read the instructions properly. but nonetheless, i will get another brand just to be sure.
3) have not added anything that "could" be ammonia-inducing. im quite sure of this. other than the initial cycling phase, but that's all about it.
4)really? i don't think there is any more space to squeeze in another later of rings in there though..but i will try tonight once i'm home.
5) so do i do a 20% WC this sunday or no? you guys making me confused
6) sure thing, im always there during feeding. and currently, i feel quite bad for my current fishes as i hav been feeding them minimal food..

[kotaaro]

hmmm 0 ammonia on your tap...? remember i told you mine was 0.5 some time back..? grrr...will go test again tonight..

wow seems like i have lots to do tonight

[kotaaro]

Sorry I post late. You already put up pictures.

Ah got surface agitation = no mozzies.

Err...sorry I'm not sure about OHF, but is the CR underneath the foam pad? Why is there 3 CR in the tank's foreground? Hehe. No need put there bro.

Yes the CR are underneath the foam pad, a layer of them, area is the same as the foam pad.

the 3 CR dropped through my outlet flow and it kinda looks nice on the substrate so i just left those there

Relax. It's just ammonia. It's at a low level. Heehee. If using reagent, maybe ask friends to let you use it for a week or so and then return. Or if you want, go get Seachem Ammonia Alert. It's that circle thing that looks like the wheel of fortune.

low level ammonia is not good enough, i need 0 ammonia

What's reagent by the way?

do ammonia alert work? very mixed reviews about those though..and it costs like $1x

[VSGenesis]

Oh, liquid test kit. The liquid=reagent.

Well, take it as a thermometer. Your liquid test kit is the digital thermometer (that in my opinion could be the cause of the false reading) and the ammonia alert the hang on thermometer. It reads differently. The hang on shows 1D less than the digital. Well, you want to be sure that you're reading is correct and not false so ya, you got to spend.

Pardon me okay, just a silly question. Do you at any point of time switch off the OHF?

PS: follow wongce, he has better take than me. =) I'm giving you comments base on what I will do.

[kotaaro]

icic. a couple of times where i switched off the mains to my OHF is when i need to plug in new plugs for my new equpiments, all doone in less than a minute and pump and everything is up and running with less than 1 minute of stoppage time. i don't think this will cause much of an issue for the BB?

regarding water change, do i still continue to do or do i stop doing? wongce suggests not to, you suggest to do 1 this sunday, or should i do partial water change, 20%, every 3 days to bring my ammonia levels down? using prime of course.

[VSGenesis]

Follow wongce. wongce is trying to diagnose where this reading is coming from; considering that all cycling was done properly. So follow him.

Ask you when do you test the water parameters? After using prime say within the next 24hours?

[kotaaro]

i have tested for ammonia after using prime for 24hrs, and a few days later.

both gave me the same ammonia readings of 1-2ppm...thats why i was wondering, which is not working? seachem prime or my test kit...?

damn it im starting to think my ammonia test kits are expired or something...have been getting such consistent ammonia readings for almost 2 weeks now.

or it could be that my tank is not cycled fully....but there's zero nitrite and 20ppm nitrate! all will be revealed when i get another ammonia test kit tonight..which brand is good? Sera?

[kotaaro]

Just did another test for ammonian using a different brand of test kit.

Results the same..2ppm..

[felix_fx2]

Just did another test for ammonian using a different brand of test kit.

Results the same..2ppm..

Why so headache.

Nitrogen cycle is something on going. A well developed colony of bb will keep to levels very very low.

If your ammonia levels is see-saw at the lower few, and with some live stock. Should be due to capacity of bb with ohf.

Very likely you will remember the last few test results and intervals. Can post?

But one personal thing. I moved from sponge filter->ohf->hof->canister. You may consider adding a cheap hof and get some aged mulm to it.

[wongce]

If there is no issues with test kits,the potential bugger might be insufficient Space for BB to strive and grow. Most of scapers or shrimp keepers have at least 1-2 kg of biomedia in filter for cultivative bb(some even more and higher quality). I myself have used a lot of biomedia if you read my journal.

Next stop,pls take a pic of the Amount of CR you put into your OHF. Take some macro pictures of the CR you used.

[kotaaro]

Why so headache.

Nitrogen cycle is something on going. A well developed colony of bb will keep to levels very very low.

If your ammonia levels is see-saw at the lower few, and with some live stock. Should be due to capacity of bb with ohf.

Very likely you will remember the last few test results and intervals. Can post?

But one personal thing. I moved from sponge filter->ohf->hof->canister. You may consider adding a cheap hof and get some aged mulm to it.

went fishless cycling initially, dosed ammonia bicarb till 3-4ppm, at one point it was hovering at 0.5ppm for first few weeks

But then it continue to rise and remained at 1-2ppm ever since.

Should i add more CR to my OHF immediately?

[kotaaro]

If there is no issues with test kits,the potential bugger might be insufficient Space for BB to strive and grow. Most of scapers or shrimp keepers have at least 1-2 kg of biomedia in filter for cultivative bb(some even more and higher quality). I myself have used a lot of biomedia if you read my journal.

Next stop,pls take a pic of the Amount of CR you put into your OHF. Take some macro pictures of the CR you used.

should i juz half the thickness of my existing sponge and add more CR underneath it? because as you can see from my OHF picture, there is this plastic holder above the sponge, i think that's use to distribute water even into the biomedia, is that important? can i remove that so i can have more room for more CR.

Reason why i want to half thickness of sponge is that it is kind of thick for a single piece. and i think my total amount of ceramic rings did not even exceed 1 kg? might me 50-60 pieces?

[VSGenesis]

That is a trickle chamber. Google the purpose for that.

You have added substrate that would give a place for the bb to colonise. Please take picture of ohf without the pad.

How long has this cycling gone on for? To be honest, all i have to say after all that, if really the cr are not enough, please add more as recommended by wongce and one last thing is patience. Wait another week to two.

Dont recall cycling having so much work. -_-"