dango697

hi everyone i have been trying to cycle my second tank now for 3 months i have seeded it with gravel from my 20 gallon tank to add bacteria nitrate was produced almost straight away though i have no nitrite and about 8 PPM of ammonium in my water i know this as the pH is 6 so not amonia as its below 7 i have tried to do 50 percent water changes and test the water straight after and the ammonium is always at 8 ppm and it wont seem to go away an advice would be much appreciated

aquarist48

Hello Dango and Welcome to Fish Lore. Have you tested your water for ammonia/ammonium right from the tap? I have seen a few posts where people do have ammonia in their tap water.

Why is your pH level so low? The lower the pH the longer it will take to cycle. You may want to consider adding some crushed coral (in a mesh bag would work) to raise your pH levels naturally.

What type of test kit are you using? If you are using test strips then I suggest switching to the API (liquid) Master Test Kit.

Keep us posted.
Ken

dango697

hi i have tested my tap water and it came up zero for NH3 and nh4 and i read somewhere that if your ph stays below 7 it means u have ammonium and if its above u have ammonia i just cant seem to get the ammonium to go away i have about 5 ppm nitrate in the tank aswell which i thought ment that the ammonium would drop over time anyway as it is consumed by the bacteria?

Shawnie

are there fish in the tank ? if not, Id add a ton of crushed coral to raise that ph..although ammonium will cycle a tank, it takes a ton longer as the bacteria colony need ammonia to really strive and form ...

peacemaker92

Try getting a bottle of prime to detox the ammonia/ammonium. Good luck!

Shawnie

great suggestion but NOT if there are no fish in there

peacemaker92

Thanks for the heads up, Shawnie.

Nate McFin

I would raise the Ph with coral as well. I cycled for 4 months fighting the Ph. When Ph drops that low Nitrifying bacteria dont like it. A little crushed coral will help things alot.
You might be stuck buying a whole bag unless you can talk your local fish store into giving you a handful. Make sure and put the coral in a media bag and put the bag into your filter. If you just throw the coral in the bottom of the tank you cant go back and remove it very easily.
If you cant get anyone to give some to you and you dont mind waiting PM and I will send some your way. I ended up buying a whole bag and its enough to last 10 lifetimes for my needs. LOL

thorpbrian

This is why I love Tetra Safe Start.....

Nate McFin

GREAT POINT!~

dango697

i have one fish in the tank a zebra danio i just added a small bag of crushed coral to my filter and dosed the tank with prime to detoxify the ammonium how long does it take until prime detoxifies is it instant or should i wait 24 hours to test for ammonium?

Nate McFin

After adding the prime it will detox the ammonia but it will still register on a test. IS it possible to tank a small chunk of the filter from the other tank to add to this tank as well?

dango697

yeah i have added gravel in a stocking from the other tank to this tank but i will get some of the sponge and it too didnt think of that thanks nate