A very stupid and embarrassing question… is my cat causing ammonia in my tank?

[FlyingJenn]

I agree but personally I would not mix nems and coral in a tank that small. I have nems in a 6ft tank and they can be a pain when they decide to move.
To the OP having a plan is great and part of the fun but hopefully you realize nems do not do well in young tanks? Not saying it's impossible just not recommended unless you have experience with nems already.
I apologize if your already aware. I just read about too many failures which usualy do not end well.

No worries at all! And yeah I probably don’t expect to add any anemones for about 6 months to a year if not more tbh. It’s a goal since I used to have one 5+ years ago with my ex. I’m just a bit hesitant on coral since I want a chocolate chip star and I’ve been told stars are notorious for eating coral

 

[Garf]

The tank hasn’t even been running for a full 24 hours yet and right now I just did an ammonia test nothing else besides add PNS pro bio

Is ammonia lower now that the water isn't as cloudy? What type of sand is it? Was it wet or dry?

 

[FlyingJenn]

Is ammonia lower now that the water isn't as cloudy? What type of sand is it? Was it wet or dry?

I haven’t tested it yet but I’ll post a picture of the results. And the sand is Carib Sea aragonite arag-alive crushed coral

 

[FlyingJenn]

I haven’t tested it yet but I’ll post a picture of the results. And the sand is Carib Sea aragonite arag-alive crushed coral

Just tested with API and the Red Sea test kit for ammonia. Doesn’t look like increased a whole lot but still a little. I just did another dose of PNS pro bio.

Normal for a new tank? Haven’t added anything else besides PNS.

 

[Bob Escher]

Long story short, got a new tank, purple life rock, and aragonite substrate. I tested my ammonia to get a base reading and I was showing 1.0 ppm on the api test and .8 on the Red Sea ammonia test. I was puzzled to why I’m showing ammonia within a few hours of setting up my new tank (20g nano).

The only thing I could think of is maybe my cat and his litter box? I’m a couple of days overdue for changing his box so maybe that’s it? I tested my tap water straight from the faucet and rodi water and they were the same yellowish with slight green (api). I decided to dose my tank with some pns pro bio and opened my window. Any advice besides cleaning the crap out of my apartment? Sorry if this a stupid question

Pic of my cat showing no remorse.

I have had cats for years along with a tank. For that amount of ammonia to get into the tank from the litter box ( I hope you have litter in it) is virtually impossible
Maybe the cat is using the tank as a box

 

[Dan Ponchak]

Long story short, got a new tank, purple life rock, and aragonite substrate. I tested my ammonia to get a base reading and I was showing 1.0 ppm on the api test and .8 on the Red Sea ammonia test. I was puzzled to why I’m showing ammonia within a few hours of setting up my new tank (20g nano).

The only thing I could think of is maybe my cat and his litter box? I’m a couple of days overdue for changing his box so maybe that’s it? I tested my tap water straight from the faucet and rodi water and they were the same yellowish with slight green (api). I decided to dose my tank with some pns pro bio and opened my window. Any advice besides cleaning the crap out of my apartment? Sorry if this a stupid question

Pic of my cat showing no remorse.

I was at a friends. I saw his cat spray 4-5 feet up the wall. Gross.

 

[n2585722]

For what it is worth I have cats and a littler box and do mot have an issue with ammonia in the tank. The litter box is not in the same room but I do have central air and heat. i do have one of those automated ones that scoop up the deposits and dumps them in a covered container. Not sure if that really makes too much of a difference though.

 

[randomfishdude]

I was at a friends. I saw his cat spray 4-5 feet up the wall. Gross.

Here is something kinda grosser but also quite impressive:
We used to foster kittens and we decided to take a break a while back. When we were cleaning up the kitten room. By the litter box we noticed little bits of cat poo on the wall. Theese were little things. Like the biggest was a droplet of water. We found little splatters 4 feet up the wall.

Theese kittens must have had little poo shotguns coming out their butts.

 

[Dan_P]

Long story short, got a new tank, purple life rock, and aragonite substrate. I tested my ammonia to get a base reading and I was showing 1.0 ppm on the api test and .8 on the Red Sea ammonia test. I was puzzled to why I’m showing ammonia within a few hours of setting up my new tank (20g nano).

The only thing I could think of is maybe my cat and his litter box? I’m a couple of days overdue for changing his box so maybe that’s it? I tested my tap water straight from the faucet and rodi water and they were the same yellowish with slight green (api). I decided to dose my tank with some pns pro bio and opened my window. Any advice besides cleaning the crap out of my apartment? Sorry if this a stupid question

Pic of my cat showing no remorse.

If I have the observation correct, new salt water+aragonite+”liferock” and no nitrifying bacteria, no ammonia addition, no anything results in 1 ppm ammonia shortly after putting everything together. I would test the new saltwater as part of my investigation. New saltwater can provide tenths of a ppm of ammonia which is what you might be experiencing.

 

[FlyingJenn]

If I have the observation correct, new salt water+aragonite+”liferock” and no nitrifying bacteria, no ammonia addition, no anything results in 1 ppm ammonia shortly after putting everything together. I would test the new saltwater as part of my investigation. New saltwater can provide tenths of a ppm of ammonia which is what you might be experiencing.

Yeah unfortunately I got the water from my LFS. I did test it and it did come back with some ammonia, it could be because I used a Home Depot bucket?

I don’t think it’s the litter box although I did get him fresh litter and a new box (he needed a new one anyways). I also switched him from the potty pads to the silican (sp?) litter.

I’m going to continue to monitor the ammonia and just hope that maybe it was something from the buckets or it just being a new tank and everything. Going to put a pinch of crushed up brine shrimp and continue to use PNS and hope it resolves itself and cycles!

 

[Garf]

Yeah unfortunately I got the water from my LFS. I did test it and it did come back with some ammonia, it could be because I used a Home Depot bucket?

I don’t think it’s the litter box although I did get him fresh litter and a new box (he needed a new one anyways). I also switched him from the potty pads to the silican (sp?) litter.

I’m going to continue to monitor the ammonia and just hope that maybe it was something from the buckets or it just being a new tank and everything. Going to put a pinch of crushed up brine shrimp and continue to use PNS and hope it resolves itself and cycles!

This PNS stuff is heterotrophic isn't it?

 

[FlyingJenn]

This PNS stuff is heterotrophic isn't it?

not sure it doesn’t say on the bottle I do have microbacter 7 I can use instead

 

[Kenneth Wingerter]

This PNS stuff is heterotrophic isn't it?

Yes, it is heterotrophic--It does not perform nitrification but does assimilate NH4. Also performs denitrification.

 

[FlyingJenn]

Yes, it is heterotrophic--It does not perform nitrification but does assimilate NH4. Also performs denitrification.

So (and forgive my ignorance) I should focus on the microbacter7 as far as removing the ammonia/starting the cycling process?

 

[Kenneth Wingerter]

So (and forgive my ignorance) I should focus on the microbacter7 as far as removing the ammonia/starting the cycling process?

Not saying MB7 would hurt, but from what I understand, MB7 is mainly Bacillus, which are also heterotrophic. All heterotrophs will remove ammonia, albeit through assimilation rather than nitrification. So the PNS ProBio, MB7 and any nitrifying bacteria will all remove ammonia by either taking it up for growth (heterotrophy) or converting it to nitrate for energy (nitrification).

 

[FlyingJenn]

Not saying MB7 would hurt, but from what I understand, MB7 is mainly Bacillus, which are also heterotrophic. All heterotrophs will remove ammonia, albeit through assimilation rather than nitrification. So the PNS ProBio, MB7 and any nitrifying bacteria will all remove ammonia by either taking it up for growth (heterotrophy) or converting it to nitrate for energy (nitrification).

Ah ok yeah I just tested nitrites and via the api test ammonia looks like 2ppm and nitrites at 1(?). Going to to the Red Sea test, I’ll post the results but could all of this be from it just being a new tank or maybe some ammonia from the Home Depot bucket I used to transport the salt water?

In the end I think this was just an unexpected way to start the cycling process?

 

[FlyingJenn]

Is ammonia lower now that the water isn't as cloudy? What type of sand is it? Was it wet or dry?

These were the results from tonight’s test. Interesting how different the results are.

Do you think I somehow picked up a random ammonia source and should use that as the start to cycling and sit back and let it cycle? Or do a water change?

I still haven’t added anything to the tank besides MB7 and Pro Bio. No lights, no skimmer, just the return.

 

[FlyingJenn]

Is ammonia lower now that the water isn't as cloudy? What type of sand is it? Was it wet or dry?

Wanted to give an update. I just tested the ammonia and it’s at 2.4. I had to cut down the Red Sea test to see how much over 2ppm I was and it showed 1.4.

I’ve been dosing it with Fritz’s and PNS, I did also test my rodi water I got from my LFS and that has .2ppm (I have no clue from where) so that may be a cause as well.

Hopefully it will drop soon, I’m already seeing some nitrites so I’m hoping I didn’t mess my tank up too bad.

 

[Miami Reef]

FWIW, cat urine, like human urine, contains little ammonia. Most of the N present is urea.

Is urea skimmable? If fish excrete ammonia/ammonium through their gills, does fish poop contain any nitrogen that can get skimmed out?

 

[Spare time]

The tank hasn’t even been running for a full 24 hours yet and right now I just did an ammonia test nothing else besides add PNS pro bio

PS that bacteria is not meant for cycling a tank