Cycling tank ammonia and foam

Current conditions of tank are 3-4 weeks cycling.
6 zebra danios and some plants
ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
20% water change last night and water was dosed with prime before being added.
1. I have ammonia in my tank even though the nitrites have made there way back to 0. Is that normal during a cycle or am I doing something to keep ammonia up a little. (Tap water tested after 24hours showed no ammonia or nitrite)
2. Even after a water change last night I have foam forming on the corners near the filter. It went away for awhile last night during the water change and after but as soon as I woke up it’s back. Is their a chance my tank is still too dirty and it’s protein foam? Or is this also normal sometimes during a cycle?
Thanks for any help!

Current conditions of tank are 3-4 weeks cycling.
6 zebra danios and some plants
ammonia .25ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm
20% water change last night and water was dosed with prime before being added.
1. I have ammonia in my tank even though the nitrites have made there way back to 0. Is that normal during a cycle or am I doing something to keep ammonia up a little. (Tap water tested after 24hours showed no ammonia or nitrite)
2. Even after a water change last night I have foam forming on the corners near the filter. It went away for awhile last night during the water change and after but as soon as I woke up it’s back. Is their a chance my tank is still too dirty and it’s protein foam? Or is this also normal sometimes during a cycle?
Thanks for any help!

Updated tank info to help!

 

Updated tank info to help!

It is normal to see ammonia as the bacteria colony grows over time. With 6 fish at 4 weeks, seems like things are going along pretty well. I'd suspect the plants are absorbing the ammonia/nitrite too, which may slow down the bacteria colony growth but that's no problem so long as you don't increase the bioload.

Protein foam usually means there's excess organics of one kind or another - dead fish/plants, excessive fish poop, filter is full and needs changing. Keep doing water changes and make sure you're cleaning the gravel/changing out the filter media if you haven't done so yet.

 

It is normal to see ammonia as the bacteria colony grows over time. With 6 fish at 4 weeks, seems like things are going along pretty well. I'd suspect the plants are absorbing the ammonia/nitrite too, which may slow down the bacteria colony growth but that's no problem so long as you don't increase the bioload.

Protein foam usually means there's excess organics of one kind or another - dead fish/plants, excessive fish poop, filter is full and needs changing. Keep doing water changes and make sure you're cleaning the gravel/changing out the filter media if you haven't done so yet.

Okay ya I will change out the filter media now it hasn’t been changed yet. I have 2 filter medias in my filter so I’ll change one now and the other in a few days. Also it it normal for the nitrite to make its way to zero and the ammonia still be present? That was my concern was the nitrite went to 0 before ammonia

 

Okay ya I will change out the filter media now it hasn’t been changed yet. I have 2 filter medias in my filter so I’ll change one now and the other in a few days. Also it it normal for the nitrite to make its way to zero and the ammonia still be present? That was my concern was the nitrite went to 0 before ammonia

Normally you'd see ammonia go to zero while nitrites are high, then nitrites go to zero as nitrates rise, as shown in this graph: http://www.aqadvisor.com/articles/CyclingGraph.gif

What test kit are you using to measure levels? API Masterkit is known to shown 0.25 ammonia even when the levels are zero. If you have a lot of live plants, they might be sucking up the extra ammonia/nitrites and throwing off the normal cycle graph shapes.

 

One thing I would not do while a tank is cycling is change the media. Rinse it off in some water pulled from the tank as needed but I wouldn't remove and replace with new. Bacteria is growing all over the tank but the majority of it is going to be on your filter media.

You are going to see a lot of things going on in a new tank as it cycles and eventually gets firmly established. Even I occasionally see a bit of bubble build up on the surface of my tanks in areas that don't have as much surface movement as other areas of the tank.

 

Normally you'd see ammonia go to zero while nitrites are high, then nitrites go to zero as nitrates rise, as shown in this graph: http://www.aqadvisor.com/articles/CyclingGraph.gif

What test kit are you using to measure levels? API Masterkit is known to shown 0.25 ammonia even when the levels are zero. If you have a lot of live plants, they might be sucking up the extra ammonia/nitrites and throwing off the normal cycle graph shapes.

Ya I’m using the api test kit. I tested my tap water after letting it sit for a day and got a solid 0ppm for ammonia so either I have traces of ammonia or something is making it show positive.

 

One thing I would not do while a tank is cycling is change the media. Rinse it off in some water pulled from the tank as needed but I wouldn't remove and replace with new. Bacteria is growing all over the tank but the majority of it is going to be on your filter media.

Good point. When I said "media", I really meant the mechanical filter which catches the big stuff, not the high-porosity stuff we want to get colonized. What's the generic term for that mechanical stuff, floss, pads, thread?

 

One thing I would not do while a tank is cycling is change the media. Rinse it off in some water pulled from the tank as needed but I wouldn't remove and replace with new. Bacteria is growing all over the tank but the majority of it is going to be on your filter media.

Oh okay I have been doing that each water change . I will continue to do that then

You are going to see a lot of things going on in a new tank as it cycles and eventually gets firmly established. Even I occasionally see a bit of bubble build up on the surface of my tanks in areas that don't have as much surface movement as other areas of the tank.

Okay well the foam is on the filter side but should I just wait until the cycle is over and then reassess from there?

 

Good point. When I said "media", I really meant the mechanical filter which catches the big stuff, not the high-porosity stuff we want to get colonized. What's the generic term for that mechanical stuff, floss, pads, thread?

Gotcha Quite often when folks first get into this hobby they start with some kind of HOB filter that comes complete with replaceable cartridges. The instructions tell us to replace that cartridge monthly. What they don't tell someone new to the hobby is that they will be throwing away the bacteria they are patiently growing. I always try to ask what kind of media is in the filter before recommending how to take care of it. We don't want them throwing out their cycle along with the cartridge.

Okay well the foam is on the filter side but should I just wait until the cycle is over and then reassess from there?

I would. If it gets too bad you may want to consider adding an air stone or even better a sponge filter to add more surface movement. You may even be able to simply lower the water level so the water coming out of the filter causes more surface movement.

BTW: It isn't unusual to still see a bit of ammonia even after the nitrites have spiked and are now zero so it isn't something to be overly concerned about at this point.

 

Gotcha Quite often when folks first get into this hobby they start with some kind of HOB filter that comes complete with replaceable cartridges. The instructions tell us to replace that cartridge monthly. What they don't tell someone new to the hobby is that they will be throwing away the bacteria they are patiently growing. I always try to ask what kind of media is in the filter before recommending how to take care of it. We don't want them throwing out their cycle along with the cartridge.

I would. If it gets too bad you may want to consider adding an air stone or even better a sponge filter to add more surface movement. You may even be able to simply lower the water level so the water coming out of the filter causes more surface movement.

BTW: It isn't unusual to still see a bit of ammonia even after the nitrites have spiked and are now zero so it isn't something to be overly concerned about at this point.

Okay thanks for the advice! I have the marineland penguin 350 filter and just the filter media that comes with it that has AC in a pouch and them a blue cover. But I’ll just continue to water changes over the next week and then see what happens this weekend with the foam and ammonia. Thanks for the help!

 

Okay thanks for the advice! I have the marineland penguin 350 filter and just the filter media that comes with it that has AC in a pouch and them a blue cover. But I’ll just continue to water changes over the next week and then see what happens this weekend with the foam and ammonia. Thanks for the help!

This might be a good time to replace that carbon pouch with some foam. You can buy it in sheets and cut it to fit. Carbon really isn't necessary. A piece of foam will be a much better place to act as both mechanical media and bio-media since bacteria grows well on the sponge. The good thing about switching over to foam is it will last for a very long time and just needs to be cleaned from time to time.

 

This might be a good time to replace that carbon pouch with some foam. You can buy it in sheets and cut it to fit. Carbon really isn't necessary. A piece of foam will be a much better place to act as both mechanical media and bio-media since bacteria grows well on the sponge. The good thing about switching over to foam is it will last for a very long time and just needs to be cleaned from time to time.

Does anything else need to go in the filter besides the sponge? Or just buy some filter sponges and. Cut them up?

 

Does anything else need to go in the filter besides the sponge? Or just buy some filter sponges and. Cut them up?

I run media bags filled with a mixture of several different types of bio-media in my HOB's. I have lava rock, matrix, ceramic rings and chunks of crushed coral. I have very soft water and the CC helps keep my pH stabilized. Except for very occasionally having to add a bit more CC this type of bio-media never has to be replaced. I just rinse it off every now and then.

I run a cut to fit sponge and I also run poly-fill in there to help polish the water. I just pull and replace the poly-fill at least once a week. I don't depend on it for my bacteria so replacing it as needed won't affect my cycle.

In the end you will save a lot of money but moving away from the cartridges that eventually clog up and have to be replaced. Each time they have to be replaced you are throwing away some of your bacteria.