Is it normal for ammonia to be .25ppm 1 week into cycle with clowns?

[Zizzer]

If 0ppm of ammonia is supposed to match the yellow color on the chart, my ammonia level has been .25 from day 1 because it is greener than that. Anyways, I'm 1 week into cycle today and ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates read 8.0, .25, 0.0, and 0.0 roughly. Using api test kit. Tank is 50gal, 2 clown fish, pellets for feeding, used bottle of that dr tommy bio stuff, 20lb of dry live rock, hang on filter with this white rocks inside, live sand, 2 heaters, and no light. Do my levels seem normal? If not, what should I do? I've read that my tank would cycle better with ammonia at 3 to 5ppm but also read that ammonia above .25 is toxic to fish. I guess I'm right at the threshold but I really don't know. And I was thinking my nitrites would be going up a little by now.

 

[Saltyreef]

If 0ppm of ammonia is supposed to match the yellow color on the chart, my ammonia level has been .25 from day 1 because it is greener than that. Anyways, I'm 1 week into cycle today and ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates read 8.0, .25, 0.0, and 0.0 roughly. Using api test kit. Tank is 50gal, 2 clown fish, pellets for feeding, used bottle of that dr tommy bio stuff, 20lb of dry live rock, hang on filter with this white rocks inside, live sand, 2 heaters, and no light. Do my levels seem normal? If not, what should I do? I've read that my tank would cycle better with ammonia at 3 to 5ppm but also read that ammonia above .25 is toxic to fish. I guess I'm right at the threshold but I really don't know. And I was thinking my nitrites would be going up a little by now.

Its normal if you are using an API test kit.

 

[brandon429]

simply hold course and nothing bad happens, bottle bac does this. that's what 2 year old reefs show on API. you cease testing for ammonia and nitrite now, watch the fish for normalcy that will continue, and make use of the bottle bac cycle. no harm was done to fish, or they'd be acting harmed. we don't expect ammonia to be zero on those kits, and you not spiking ammonia doesn't affect your cycle, concern no more over the cycle you're off and reefing.

 

[brandon429]

Lasse gave some valuable advice on these types of cycles worth relaying: the food you add is more loading press than the actual fish

this next week needs to be very low feed rate, lower than normal, to shore up any risks. do a couple decent water changes in the interim simply matching temp and salinity, but no more testing is needed. change 20% or so of the water a couple of times/easy guiding here.

 

[Zizzer]

simply hold course and nothing bad happens, bottle bac does this. that's what 2 year old reefs show on API. you cease testing for ammonia and nitrite now, watch the fish for normalcy that will continue, and make use of the bottle bac cycle. no harm was done to fish, or they'd be acting harmed. we don't expect ammonia to be zero on those kits, and you not spiking ammonia doesn't affect your cycle, concern no more over the cycle you're off and reefing.

Wow. That took no time. That's crazy. So is it OK to turn on my lights and power heads and add a new fish now? After I do a water change and go easy on the feeding for a week?

simply hold course and nothing bad happens, bottle bac does this. that's what 2 year old reefs show on API. you cease testing for ammonia and nitrite now, watch the fish for normalcy that will continue, and make use of the bottle bac cycle. no harm was done to fish, or they'd be acting harmed. we don't expect ammonia to be zero on those kits, and you not spiking ammonia doesn't affect your cycle, concern no more over the cycle you're off and reefing.

 

[BeanAnimal]

Why is everyone so hellbent on adding so many fish so fast? Slow down and give things time to settle in.

 

[Zizzer]

simply hold course and nothing bad happens, bottle bac does this. that's what 2 year old reefs show on API. you cease testing for ammonia and nitrite now, watch the fish for normalcy that will continue, and make use of the bottle bac cycle. no harm was done to fish, or they'd be acting harmed. we don't expect ammonia to be zero on those kits, and you not spiking ammonia doesn't affect your cycle, concern no more over the cycle you're off and reefing.

Wow. That took no time. That's crazy. So is it OK to turn on my lights and power heads and add a new fish now?

simply hold course and nothing bad happens, bottle bac does this. that's what 2 year old reefs show on API. you cease testing for ammonia and nitrite now, watch the fish for normalcy that will continue, and make use of the bottle bac cycle. no harm was done to fish, or they'd be acting harmed. we don't expect ammonia to be zero on those kits, and you not spiking ammonia doesn't affect your cycle, concern no more over the cycle you're off and reefing.

Why is everyone so hellbent on adding so many fish so fast? Slow down and give things time to settle in.

Lol. This is my first tank. I would have to say it's because they are so freaking awesome and patience is something you either got or you don't. Unfortunately, I'm broke in that department. But, I'm trying.

 

[vetteguy53081]

If 0ppm of ammonia is supposed to match the yellow color on the chart, my ammonia level has been .25 from day 1 because it is greener than that. Anyways, I'm 1 week into cycle today and ph, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrates read 8.0, .25, 0.0, and 0.0 roughly. Using api test kit. Tank is 50gal, 2 clown fish, pellets for feeding, used bottle of that dr tommy bio stuff, 20lb of dry live rock, hang on filter with this white rocks inside, live sand, 2 heaters, and no light. Do my levels seem normal? If not, what should I do? I've read that my tank would cycle better with ammonia at 3 to 5ppm but also read that ammonia above .25 is toxic to fish. I guess I'm right at the threshold but I really don't know. And I was thinking my nitrites would be going up a little by now.

Ammonia below 0.05 is acceptable but you truly want zero to .025 and steady for a week before deeming safe for fish. As Bean Animal mentioned- Stop with fish and take time to let these numbers settle and take time to enjoy the tank. . Step by Step.
Api is literally worthless as especially ammonia test notorious for false readings. For clowns pellets are fine but add brine shrimp, LRS fish frenzy and small plankton. You can also feed mysis shrimp but dont overdo it as it will add mucus to stomach lining.

 

[Zizzer]

But is it OK to turn the power heads and lights on now. Or do I still need to wait on that as well?

 

[KrisReef]

Wow. That took no time. That's crazy. So is it OK to turn on my lights and power heads and add a new fish now?

No new fish for at least 2 weeks as the bacteria need time to colonize and get established. Feed the two clowns lightly to minimze ammonia they excrete and let the bacteria filter get formalized and able to handle the ammonia they release. Adding new fish too soon is likely to stress out all the fish and they will be prone to disease and death if you rush to add extra bioload in a new tank. Lots of people ignore this kind of advice and then they post that everything was good, then one fish got sick and died and the next day another, etc. If you want to keep buying new fish every week then disregard my posting advice and maybe you'll be luckier than the last folks who went crazy adding beautiful fish into their new tank. It's so tempting, so I understand whatever route you take.

If you can, post some pictures of the clowns and the tank while it still looks new.

Regarding the lights, the algae will start to grow when the lights go on. Consider keeping light periods to 8 hours or less if you would like to keep the glass clear of algae. GL.

 

[vetteguy53081]

But is it OK to turn the power heads and lights on now. Or do I still need to wait on that as well?

Not sure why you are not running them but by all means yes and start lights low and ramp them up a little each day until desired intensity

 

[Zizzer]

Ammonia below 0.05 is acceptable but you truly want zero to .025 and steady for a week before deeming safe for fish. As Bean Animal mentioned- Stop with fish and take time to let these numbers settle and take time to enjoy the tank. . Step by Step.
Api is literally worthless as especially ammonia test notorious for false readings. For clowns pellets are fine but add brine shrimp, LRS fish frenzy and small plankton. You can also feed mysis shrimp but dont overdo it as it will add mucus to stomach lining.

Ok, yeah, I've been wanting to feed it something different. Thank you for sharing your time. It is very valued and appreciated.

 

[Zizzer]

No new fish for at least 2 weeks as the bacteria need time to colonize and get established. Feed the two clowns lightly to minimze ammonia they excrete and let the bacteria filter get formalized and able to handle the ammonia they release. Adding new fish too soon is likely to stress out all the fish and they will be prone to disease and death if you rush to add extra bioload in a new tank. Lots of people ignore this kind of advice and then they post that everything was good, then one fish got sick and died and the next day another, etc. If you want to keep buying new fish every week then disregard my posting advice and maybe you'll be luckier than the last folks who went crazy adding beautiful fish into their new tank. It's so tempting, so I understand whatever route you take.

If you can, post some pictures of the clowns and the tank while it still looks new.

Regarding the lights, the algae will start to grow when the lights go on. Consider keeping light periods to 8 hours or less if you would like to keep the glass clear of algae. GL.

I will definitely post some pics when I get home. I don't want to stress them out for sure so I will wait on that. Thank you for the explanation. Wow, you guys are really helpful on here.

 

[Zizzer]

Not sure why you are not running them but by all means yes and start lights low and ramp them up a little each day until desired intensity

I think I heard some guy on YouTube say that keeping the water currents low would help the tank to cycle faster. So I just waited. Not sure if that was correct but seems things turned out well so far.

 

[vetteguy53081]

I think I heard some guy on YouTube say that keeping the water currents low would help the tank to cycle faster. So I just waited. Not sure if that was correct but seems things turned out well so far.

Be careful of you tube. While there is SOME good info on there, What they recommend for their 150 gallon tank will not help a person with a 20 gallon tank as an example

 

[BeanAnimal]

I think I heard some guy on YouTube say that keeping the water currents low would help the tank to cycle faster. So I just waited. Not sure if that was correct but seems things turned out well so far.

I heard on Youtube that you can file your own teeth instead of getting braces….

 

[SpyC]

But is it OK to turn the power heads and lights on now. Or do I still need to wait on that as well?

Your powerheads never should have been off if you have fish...

 

[Zizzer]

I had a glass top on it but that seemed to make the ph start to drop so I had to take it off. I have cats though so I had to put something on top of it. I found a 2'x4' egg create ceiling light panel at home depot for like $18. I just cut it to fit. Material is made for lights and can get up to 167⁰F before Materials change or break down. I figured since Leds didn't get that hot, this would be good to use. So I posted a pic of the top of the tank so you could see that as well.

 

[Zizzer]

I heard on Youtube that you can file your own teeth instead of getting braces….

Yeah but you only do that after frying your chicken in nyquil. It helps you to go to sleep at night on a full stomach. Just don't feed that chicken to your fish. No matter how much you want to.

 

[Zizzer]

Its normal if you are using an API test kit.

Well, I believe my ammonia is truly at .25 because I decided to test some water straight out of a jug of purified water to see what color it would be and it was as yellow as the yellow on the card. It was just as yellow as my nitrates usually look. I think this would be a good test for anyone to do that is wondering if their api test are accurate or not.