My 20 gallon long is on day 6 and already the ammonia tests at .01 and nitrites at 0. I'm using AmQuel+ to treat the water and biozyme for cycling along with 3 zebra danios. Is it possible that the tank could really be cycling this fast, or am I missing something? The AmQuel+ is supposed to remove ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, and the biozyme is obviously supposed to help speed up cycling, but I still didn't expect it to go this fast. Any thoughts, or are these just really good products?
another cycling question
- Thread starter msn711
- Start date
using amquel, in my opinion, isnt the best move.
mainly, since it removes the ammonia, it also starves the bacteria that you're trying to grow that will remove the ammonia naturally. i'd say STOP using the amquel..
and i'd suggest getting rid of the fish while you're cycling as well, just cuz i dont like poisoning my fish personally.
here's a little more info:
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html
but good luck with whatever you choose to do.
mainly, since it removes the ammonia, it also starves the bacteria that you're trying to grow that will remove the ammonia naturally. i'd say STOP using the amquel..
and i'd suggest getting rid of the fish while you're cycling as well, just cuz i dont like poisoning my fish personally.
here's a little more info:
http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html
but good luck with whatever you choose to do.
If I don't use AmQuel, then what should I treat my tap water with? I can't just dump tap water, chlorine and all, into the tank.
And if there's no ammonia in the tank, then how am I poisoning the fish? Besides, I already have them...I can't dump them somewhere while I wait for the tank to cycle.
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yes use a conditioner to make the tap water safe, but dont use it more than once.
it sounds like you're using it to keep ammonia levels down.
in which case the reason your ammonia levels arent going down on their own is that you arent let any of the ammonia eating bacteria grow, because if it doesnt have any ammonia, what is it going to eat?
you NEED that ammonia eating bacteria.
therefore, since you dont have any ammonia eating bacteria, everytime your fish produce any waste (which is probably pretty often) the ammonia levels in your tank spike up (poisoning your fish) and then you get rid of the ammonia before it has a chance to start some ammonia eating bacteria. therefore you're probably going to spend lots of money trying to get rid of ammonia every day of your tanks life.
it's unfortunate that your fish have nowhere else to go for the time being, because the extreme fluctuation in ammonia levels, they will either die, or their life span will be significantly decreased.
i suggest you use less than the reccomended doseage of amquel if you insist on using it, that way it wont completely get rid of all the ammonia, and SOME benificial bacteria may be able to colonize.. then gradually add less and less amquel until your ammonia levels are NATURALLY zero. but i'm guessing that could take months.
good luck.
*EDIT*
HOWEVER since it's a 20 gal tank, and zebra danios are fairly small, i think they will be alright (they wont die i dont think) as long as there are only a few of them.
it sounds like you're using it to keep ammonia levels down.
in which case the reason your ammonia levels arent going down on their own is that you arent let any of the ammonia eating bacteria grow, because if it doesnt have any ammonia, what is it going to eat?
you NEED that ammonia eating bacteria.
therefore, since you dont have any ammonia eating bacteria, everytime your fish produce any waste (which is probably pretty often) the ammonia levels in your tank spike up (poisoning your fish) and then you get rid of the ammonia before it has a chance to start some ammonia eating bacteria. therefore you're probably going to spend lots of money trying to get rid of ammonia every day of your tanks life.
it's unfortunate that your fish have nowhere else to go for the time being, because the extreme fluctuation in ammonia levels, they will either die, or their life span will be significantly decreased.
i suggest you use less than the reccomended doseage of amquel if you insist on using it, that way it wont completely get rid of all the ammonia, and SOME benificial bacteria may be able to colonize.. then gradually add less and less amquel until your ammonia levels are NATURALLY zero. but i'm guessing that could take months.
good luck.
*EDIT*
HOWEVER since it's a 20 gal tank, and zebra danios are fairly small, i think they will be alright (they wont die i dont think) as long as there are only a few of them.
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Amquel-complexed ammonia is still available to the ammonia-oxidizing bacteria. Statements to the contrary are incorrect.
Thank you RTR. Every time I post on a board to ask about my cycling, I get bashed for using the AmQuel. It says something to the effect of what you said on the back of the bottle, but it's not as clear.
I have used amquel and I love it, besides the smell, lol, its great
And to answer that question about what it does to ammonia is this:
It doesnt actually get rid of the ammonia, it simply binds itself to it and produces ammonium, harmless to fish, but still very usable by bacteria and plants alike.
Likewise for nitrite and whatnot, the chemicals in the conditioner simply bind to the other substances and covert them, so I suppose the label is a bit misleading.
But it works great!
And to answer that question about what it does to ammonia is this:
It doesnt actually get rid of the ammonia, it simply binds itself to it and produces ammonium, harmless to fish, but still very usable by bacteria and plants alike.
Likewise for nitrite and whatnot, the chemicals in the conditioner simply bind to the other substances and covert them, so I suppose the label is a bit misleading.
But it works great!
If any product actually removed ammonia and nitrite from the aquarium without adding other undesirables, Kordon would have the market cornered. But the complexing respose is correct - it is still there and can still be metabolized, it is just locked into an ionic form which is not pH-sensitive and is relatively harmless, so it stays locked until used by the ammonia oxidizers.
what about Ammo-lock?
I read on a goldfish board that Ammo-lock appeared to stall the establishment of the bio-filter. RTR, you hve so much experience, have you ever seen that?
I read on a goldfish board that Ammo-lock appeared to stall the establishment of the bio-filter. RTR, you hve so much experience, have you ever seen that?
No, but I have only rare need for the chloramine-neutralizers such as Amquel and Prime, but did test to see that they did not do bacterial damage.
I have never had occasion to use Ammo-Lock or such, so have never tested it. If I had a tank with detectable metabolic ammonia, I would much prefer and would always elect to water change/partial enough to remove it, rather than bind it in some manner.
I have never had occasion to use Ammo-Lock or such, so have never tested it. If I had a tank with detectable metabolic ammonia, I would much prefer and would always elect to water change/partial enough to remove it, rather than bind it in some manner.