Amonia probelem.

Tanks been up for 2 months. Latest results were
Amonia .30ish
Nitrites 0
Nitrates 40ish
Phosphates 0
Ph 8.2

Its had amonia stuck in it since like the 2nd week.

Its a 15 gallon nano
Lighting 2 zetlight nanos
15 pounds live sand
15 pounds dry rock

Amonia was stuck at this since week 5. Lfs told me to buy a chromis and see if that will tail off the cycle and rid amonia by some mericle. Also have a small clean up crew in.

Been doing a 3 gallon water change about every week. Not feeding the tank as it just got over a bacterial bloom. I have a HOB filter to run carbon in and a aqueon 500 circulation pump with a slight mod to control flow.

Ask if you need more info

 

Sounds to me like the aquarium is still cycling. My opinion would be to leave it alone for a while. Do not add a fish.

 

Yeah i added that chromis out of desparation. Its been stuck on this amonia for 7 weeks. No nitrite spikes that i noticed...

 

I highly recommend returning the chromis. Patience is very important in this hobby, it will lower eventually.

 

no way to catch this guy. he will have to say. this isnt my first tank and this isnt normal. all the lfs people are stumped

 

My guess is that it's either the live sand or the dry rock. The "live sand" bought in bags is only going to have dead stuff in it by the time you buy it - which can help cycle the tank like putting food in but maybe this batch had a ton of stuff in it to leech into that small tank. If the dry rock wasn't human made, it could have had a lot of dead stuff on it, possibly even a fairly big fish or something in one of them.

 

When was the last time you clean/replace the carbon on the HOB? When I started my tank I started with HOB filter and had to rinse it every other or second day and replaced it every couple of weeks to a month. I always had a large amount of detritus on it. Remember that HOB cartridges can become a biological filter after a while.

My guess is, that if you did and do everything correct till this day you are problem lays on the HOB.

Those are my 2c, I will like to see what others say. Good luck!


P.S. Do you or anyone on your household use cleaning sprays or febreeze near the tank? Anything we put on the air that will end up on our tanks.

 

This has to be a test problem. You get nitrates because ammonia is being converted to nitrite and then to nitrate. After two months, it's more likely there is a problem with your test than that you still have ammonia.

 

Can you describe what you did with your cycle? What kind of rock, what kind of sand. What you added as an ammonia source. How often you added an ammonia source.

Damsels are an ammonia source. They certainly aren't a way of ridding a tank of ammonia.

 

Dry rock, bagged live sand to start cycle. Changing carbon pads every water change. My guess the dry rock is leeching out...

Any tips other than time? Add some cured live rock to help kick start some bacteria? It would also add more amonia but it may help... Idk.

I also test my water at home and take a sample to the lfs to get a 2nd opinion..