How long does it take for ammonia to build up?

C

clawlan

Don't harass the sea turtles!
Dec 29, 2006
880
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Atlanta, GA
How long does it take for ammonia to build up? The reason i ask is that I used Bio-Spira when I set up my tank about a week ago and am still reading 0ppm on everything. Normally without the bio-spira would I have higher readings? Just want to make sure the bio-spira is working rather than having the levels spike all of a sudden. I'm going to do my first water change tomorrow also, probably 20 or 25%.
 
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Every tank is different and I firmly believe that.
It took 2 weeks for a slight amount of ammonia to show up on my 55 even with my large fish load (see signature) I am now approaching week 4 and my ammonia is still barely visible! I don't' think I will ever see it as I now have nitrites showing more. But no visible nitrate only say .1 I think it is just holding it's own because I used media from a cycled tank, I like that it has had such low levels much less stressful for my fish it would be perfect if it just popped nitrates one day soon.
However when I reset up my 20 gallon it spiked quite high ammonia and nitrite straight away and is now cycled I have over .5 nitrate all in 1 week... that is with two miniature feeder guppies.
Go figure....
 
Remember- there is always ammonia present in our tanks. However, it is such a miniscule amount produced by fish that the proper nitrifying bacteria feed off of it so fast that it is virtually undetectable. This process occurs in a properly cycled tank. What type of fish are in the tank?
 
i'm going to make a wild guess and say 9 Blue Emperor Tetras, 9 "Pork Chop" Rasboras, 4 Cories, and 1 Gourami.
 
ok, now right after i have posted this, my ammonia has climbed to 1ppm!! What should I do? Water change? how much? Ammonia reducing chemical???
 
Stay away from the chemicals. Do water changes to reduce ammonia and keep nitrites, both, less than .25
 
Clawlan,

Just wondering what kind of declor you use?

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Add dechlorinator/dechloraminator of choice . Water must be conditioned before using Bio-Spira™ or the bacteria will die from the chlorine or chloramines normally present in tap water. However, ammonia-removing products like Ammo-Lock and Bio-Safe, which will give the bacteria of Bio-Spira nothing to feed on, must be avoided. However, water conditioners such as AmQuel®, Prime™ and Ammonia Detox may still used and should be used if you have to neutralize chloramines in your tap water.
 
Reddog80p said:
Clawlan,

Just wondering what kind of declor you use?

...
Add dechlorinator/dechloraminator of choice . Water must be conditioned before using Bio-Spira™ or the bacteria will die from the chlorine or chloramines normally present in tap water. However, ammonia-removing products like Ammo-Lock and Bio-Safe, which will give the bacteria of Bio-Spira nothing to feed on, must be avoided. However, water conditioners such as AmQuel®, Prime™ and Ammonia Detox may still used and should be used if you have to neutralize chloramines in your tap water.
Click to expand...

Well, as the bio-spira directions stated, I added the bio spira and fish at the same time after I conditioned the water several days earlier with bio safe. Also added bio-coat as I was adding fish.
 
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