Ammonia is Taking Forever...

[Slaphppy7]

Yeah, you have to shake it like mad...bang it on a table, throw it against a wall, shake unyil your arm falls off...then shake with the other arm

How much do you feed?...usually once a day, what they can finish in a minute or two, is plenty...I even skip a day of feeding with my tanks

Your temp is fine

Let's see what happens with the new test kit

[rnj79]

Yeah, you have to shake it like mad...bang it on a table, throw it against a wall, shake unyil your arm falls off...then shake with the other arm

How much do you feed?...usually once a day, what they can finish in a minute or two, is plenty...I even skip a day of feeding with my tanks

Your temp is fine

Let's see what happens with the new test kit

The new kit gave the same results as the original one, so I wasted another $30.
Today the ammonia has gone to .50 ppm. I guess it just took longer for my tank to start for whatever reason. At least its finally doing something!!

[Slaphppy7]

$30 kinda steep, where did you buy it? http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater.../dp/B000255NCI

You didn't waste your $, just keep using the older stuff, and you'll have plenty of test solution for awhile

Curious, what type of filter (s) do you have on this 60G?

You DO realize ammonia is a bad thing, and a properly cycled tank should show 0 ammonia, correct?

Just trying to understand why you "want" to see ammonia

have you read the 'cycling with fish' sticky in the beginner section?

[rnj79]

$30 kinda steep, where did you buy it? http://www.amazon.com/API-Freshwater.../dp/B000255NCI

You didn't waste your $, just keep using the older stuff, and you'll have plenty of test solution for awhile

Curious, what type of filter (s) do you have on this 60G?

You DO realize ammonia is a bad thing, and a properly cycled tank should show 0 ammonia, correct?

Just trying to understand why you "want" to see ammonia

have you read the 'cycling with fish' sticky in the beginner section?

I want to see ammonia because that means our new tank is starting the cycling process. The test kit came from Petco or PetsMart, I cannot remember. We have a fluval G3 filtration system running...

[gronlaura]

Your fish are producing ammonia. When ammonia and/or nitrites reach .50 or nitrates are above 20, you need to do a 50% water change. You don't want to see ammonia above .25 in a fish-in cycle. Same with nitrites, not above .25 - nitrites will kill your fish. And nitrates below 20.

It takes a long time to cycle with fish. And until your tank is cycled (0 amm, 0 nitrites & low nitrates every 24 hrs) you should not add any more fish. It can take 2 months or more to cycle with fish.

[rnj79]

Your fish are producing ammonia. When ammonia and/or nitrites reach .50 or nitrates are above 20, you need to do a 50% water change. You don't want to see ammonia above .25 in a fish-in cycle. Same with nitrites, not above .25 - nitrites will kill your fish. And nitrates below 20.

It takes a long time to cycle with fish. And until your tank is cycled (0 amm, 0 nitrites & low nitrates every 24 hrs) you should not add any more fish. It can take 2 months or more to cycle with fish.

My initial problem was: that after a month of having fish, our tank had not begun cycling. But, now it looks like it has finally started. I totally understand the the cycling process and the dangers of the toxins. I'm not "happy" to have ammonia in my water. I'm "happy" to see that our tank is beginning to do what it should.

Now to keep up with water changes until we have zeros across the board with a few nitrAtes :)

[Lady Hobbs]

You have a ton of water there and very few fish. If you have not have any increase in ammonia yet, then you need to add a few more fish. That would have been a good start for a smaller tank. I would add about 8-10 more black skirts since you are doing a fish-in cycle.

Edited to add: I see your cycle has began. In that case, you need not add more fish but will have to always add a few at a time because you aren't growing much bacteria with those few fish you have.

[rnj79]

You have a ton of water there and very few fish. If you have not have any increase in ammonia yet, then you need to add a few more fish. That would have been a good start for a smaller tank. I would add about 8-10 more black skirts since you are doing a fish-in cycle.

Edited to add: I see your cycle has began. In that case, you need not add more fish but will have to always add a few at a time because you aren't growing much bacteria with those few fish you have.

We added a few more fish over the weekend and thats when amm started showing up. I have just completed a 50% water change as my amm reading was .5 ppm. Will test again in a little bit...

Thank you all for your advice!!

[angelcraze2]

Hi mj79, looks like things are starting to roll, but I am wondering what kind of water conditioner are you using?

And, I am assuming "no", but do you have any plants in the tank?

When you were not seeing ammonia for a month, even with that little of stock, I would assume maybe your nitrate wasn't testing properly. It is possible there was enough nitrifying bacteria to handle the nine fish, hopefully now, you are seeing more nitrifying bacteria colonize to handle the new bioload levels.

[rnj79]

Hi mj79, looks like things are starting to roll, but I am wondering what kind of water conditioner are you using?

And, I am assuming "no", but do you have any plants in the tank?

When you were not seeing ammonia for a month, even with that little of stock, I would assume maybe your nitrate wasn't testing properly. It is possible there was enough nitrifying bacteria to handle the nine fish, hopefully now, you are seeing more nitrifying bacteria colonize to handle the new bioload levels.

I use Stress Coat for conditioning. No, there aren't any plants in the tank. I'd like some but have zero as of now. This tank is just now starting to cycle so there are no trAtes. It isn't even far enough along for trItes yet :(

The Amm test read .25 this morning- it looks like a 25% WC today, which is better than the 50% yesterday. lol!