Ammonia in Aquarium: Please help!

[sparklymoonshrimp]

I started cycling a small, 5.5g aquarium back in May or June of this year, with the intention of making it an experimental planted tank. After 3 or more months, it STILL was not cycled, and I was barely getting any register of nitrates; I think the amount of nitrates even lowered at one point. Cycling this aquarium was really not working out for me for some reason, so out of frustration I stopped testing it since I didn't have livestock in it. I've since put plants in it, and I have some bladder snails roaming around, as well. I also just added a mystery snail today, too.

I tested my water parameters--ammonia is still present at around 0.25ppm, my nitrites are 0ppm, and my nitrates are around 5ppm. Is this because I haven't added ammonia to the aquarium, so nitrates haven't had a chance to form? But.. I still have ammonia present in my aquarium, too, even if it's in small amounts. This is even after a large water change; a few days ago (Sunday) I replaced almost all the water in the tank when doing maintenance (I had also added a clay gravel on top of my planted substrate, to keep the dirt from floating around in the tank).

Again, this aquarium has been running for nearly half a year now. It has a filter, light, heater, planted tank substrate, plants (for at least the past 2 months) and I have occasionally used water from my cycled aquarium. Why is it not cycling? How can I fix this?

Is it unsafe to add my betta fish to this tank? He is in a cycled and healthy aquarium at the moment, but I would like to eventually move him to this planted tank. I added the mystery snail to it because I figured it would help with adding nitrates to the water over time. Should I wait until the ammonia level is registering at 0?

[DaveO]

It sounds to me like you have faulty readings from what ever test kit you are using. The plants should use up the ammonia and nitrates. If the tests are accurate then I would check your source water. It may actually be contaminated with ammonia. I have had nitrates show up in my tap water from time to time for whatever reason.

[Mydonkeyfish]

I agree with Dave. I think you should get another kind of test done or see if you are testing correctly. Also chain pet stores and some local fish stores do free testing and that could give you more information. That is my 2 cents.

[sparklymoonshrimp]

On 11/17/2021 at 5:11 PM, DaveO said:

It sounds to me like you have faulty readings from what ever test kit you are using. The plants should use up the ammonia and nitrates. If the tests are accurate then I would check your source water. It may actually be contaminated with ammonia. I have had nitrates show up in my tap water from time to time for whatever reason.

Oh, you know what? I think I actually do have ammonia in my tap water. When testing my tank, I decided to "test" my tap water, expecting it to show 0ppm ammonia, and I was going to use that true yellow color as a comparison for my cycling tank. I was shocked, though, because it did show about 0.25 or 0.5ppm, it was notably chartreuse.

When I refilled my aquarium, the water I added was about half tap, half RO water. Shouldn't the ammonia levels be lower? Wouldn't the ammonia quickly go down because it would be fixed by nitrates?

On 11/17/2021 at 5:58 PM, Mydonkeyfish said:

I agree with Dave. I think you should get another kind of test done or see if you are testing correctly. Also chain pet stores and some local fish stores do free testing and that could give you more information. That is my 2 cents.

I have the API Master Test Kit that I got about 2 years ago, and the bottles show that they are good until 2024. I thought this was a highly recommended kit, and that it was reliable? Or are LFSs going to be the only places that can really provide me with reliable readings?

Edited November 18, 2021 by sparklymoonshrimp

[Guppysnail]

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia both before and after adding conditioner? If it registered immediately after water change it may be coming from there as stated earlier also prime gives a slight positive reading. (I missed the tap was already discussed sorry)

Edited November 18, 2021 by Guppysnail

[KaitieG]

How long after a water change do you still detect ammonia?  Is it ever down to 0? If not, I'd consider what others have said and maybe take a sample to a fish store or try a different testing method.

If/when you add a fish, you might consider treating your water with Prime or a similar conditioner when you do water changes to let your bacteria have a chance to catch up.  I think the speed of the ammonia going down all depends on the size of your biological filter--bacteria and plants.  You might want to consider adding some fast-growing plants if you don't have them yet--they use up more nutrients (like ammonia) than slower growers.  

[sparklymoonshrimp]

On 11/17/2021 at 6:12 PM, Guppysnail said:

Have you tested your tap water for ammonia both before and after adding conditioner? If it registered immediately after water change it may be coming from there as stated earlier also prime gives a slight positive reading. (I missed the tap was already discussed sorry)

Ah, I tested my water for ammonia right out of the tap, before putting in conditioner. Should I test the tap after adding conditioner, as well? Or would that be redundant? Thanks for your help!

On 11/17/2021 at 6:12 PM, KaitieG said:

How long after a water change do you still detect ammonia?  Is it ever down to 0? If not, I'd consider what others have said and maybe take a sample to a fish store or try a different testing method.

If/when you add a fish, you might consider treating your water with Prime or a similar conditioner when you do water changes to let your bacteria have a chance to catch up.  I think the speed of the ammonia going down all depends on the size of your biological filter--bacteria and plants.  You might want to consider adding some fast-growing plants if you don't have them yet--they use up more nutrients (like ammonia) than slower growers.  

 The test I took today was about 4 days after a water change. I've never seen the ammonia down to 0ppm in this tank. ☹️ I think at this point, I should just take the water in to get tested. I have added some more plants to my tank, so I'm hoping that they will help it balance out a bit. Do you think it's unsafe to put my betta in there?

Edited November 18, 2021 by sparklymoonshrimp

[Torrey]

On 11/17/2021 at 7:51 PM, sparklymoonshrimp said:

Ah, I tested my water for ammonia right out of the tap, before putting in conditioner. Should I test the tap after adding conditioner, as well? Or would that be redundant? Thanks for your help!

 The test I took today was about 4 days after a water change. I've never seen the ammonia down to 0ppm in this tank. ☹️ I think at this point, I should just take the water in to get tested. I have added some more plants to my tank, so I'm hoping that they will help it balance out a bit. Do you think it's unsafe to put my betta in there?

Bettas are a lot more sensitive than the majority of store employees are aware.

They have both their labyrinth organ *and* gills, and the myth of being able to live in a puddle🙄

Until you have the water testing with no ammonia, it is not safe for your betta.

Especially if other tanks you have are testing 0 ammonia, that tells me that your test kit is able to discern ammonia is present or not.