How long before ammonia spikes?

Wrench

Wrench

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Sep 9, 2004
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After finally getting the live rock in my tank I added a couple cocktail shrimp to spike the ammonia on Sunday night. Here it is Tuesday morning and I am still showing 0 ammonia. The water is getting a little cloudy too. Could this be from the decaying shrimp? They're also starting to produce an odor so something is going on but why no signs of ammonia? I am using a Salifert test kit. The tank is 45g, 10g sump w/filter pads and bio balls, 70# of live rock, 3" sand bed, 2 MJ 900 powerheads, mj1200 return pump and a CL skimmer but it's off during the cycle. Should I be skimming?
 
It took 3 days for the ammonia to register in my tank when I added the shrimp. The cloudy water could simply be a bacterial bloom. When did you get the tank started? I also had a bloom the first day I started the tank up, and it was gone by day 2.

Regarding the odor, if it goes anything like mine went, brace yourself buddy ... its only gonne get uglier. It got to a point where my whole apartment smelt like rotten garbage. Luckily for me, it was still fairly warm out for this time of the year so I could keep my balcony doors and all the living room windows to air the place out. But man, it sure reeks!

Give it another day or so and the ammonia should begin to register. Also, since you have plenty of LR in your tank, you might see a very small spike, if at that. There might already be enough bacteria in the tank to break down the NH3 before it spikes. Have you checked your nitrIte and nitrAte readings yet? What do they look like?

Regarding the skimmer, I'd leave it turned off during the cycle.

Cheers!
Yash
 
Thanks, that's the info I was looking for. I just tested nitrate and nitrite to see if maybe my ammonia tests were erroneous but they're all 0 as well so I guess I shouldn't be worried yet. The tank has been setup and running with water for almost 2 weeks but because of delays in getting my live rock, I didn't get it in there until this past Friday. I put the shrimp in on Sunday. As for the odor, I can live with it for a couple of days. My father on the other hand is already giving me crap about it. I'll just have to keep my door shut and the window open and add a couple blankets to my bed, lol. Thanks for the tips.
 
If you just added the LR this past Friday, the cloudiness is more than likely just the bloom and should go away in a day or so.

Keep us posted on how things go over the next few days.

Cheers!
Yash
 
Rotting shrimp in the tank is not really the best way to go. Besides being messy, it can result in salmonella bacteria which can lead to serious illness in you if it gets onto your hands and into your mouth.

Clear ammonia is a better way to go. Fish food is another way to go. It's messy too, but at least it doesn't run the risk of causing illness (or stink!).
 
How much clear ammonia should I add? I'm assuming it can be gotten and a grocery store, etc.
 
Add enough to achieve a daily level of 5ppm ammonia. Reduce the dosage to achieve 2-3 ppm ammonia once you start to get nitrites.

The specific amount will be different for everybody, depending on the strength of the ammonia you buy. Just add a little and test, then add more if necessary until you reach the required level.

PS.This ammonia should be 100% pure with no additives or fragrance. You can usually buy it at the supermarket or hardware store.
 
i much prefer to use the the shrimp / prawn method when cycling a tank. Unless absolutly ness, i wont add anything that comes in a bottle to my tank..The rotting carcass is fine because the ammonia gets converted in the correct manner anyways and when you have had your spike, just pull it out with a net and off into the bin...There is no need to be touching it with your hands...

I had no mess at all using this method because as the shrimp / prawn starts to rot, it develops a whiteish kind of barrier surrounding it, so nothing floats off it into the tank water...

Hope that helps you Wrench

Niko
 
Forgot to ask by the way...Yash...Hows your tank coming along mate? any pictures of it available yet..Would like to see it....Sorry Wrench for just throwing that one in there...

Niko
 
atnixon said:
.The rotting carcass is fine because the ammonia gets converted in the correct manner
Click to expand...
If you use pure ammonia, you don't have to wait for anything to "convert". The ammonia is immediately available. Much faster than waiting for something to rot in the tank...Plus, it's more accurate to measure liquid ammonia than guess at how much ammonia is going to come out of piece of shrimp.
 
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