My ammonia is now at 0! now what???

[Redhaloangel]

pretty much what my title says.... now what?? do i need to take other tests? should i wait a bit before i put anything into my tank?

[worm5406]

What is in the 30g??

Rock, sand, cuc, anything?

Have you been ghost feeding it?
Did you do a chunk of raw shrimp?

[Redhaloangel]

there is sand rock and thats it.. i been feeding it drops of bacteria....

[mcgyvr]

nitrites?
nitrates?

[Redhaloangel]

What is a cuc?? I'm planning on putting a pair o clownfish in with a green bubble tip anemone that I already bought and is waiting at the LFS

[worm5406]

bacteria?

Have you gotten any amonia and put in the tank?
To see how quick it is taken care of?

There is a thread on here about how to do the amonia test.

IMO I would let the bacteria adding go.. and let it thrive to see how well it goes. Take some flake food and do a pinch a day.. (ghost feeding)

This will make the water take the food and convert it and convert it again and convert it again.. (hahaha)

That will show that the bacteria is holding its own based on what it is being fed. Once you get some stock in it, the bio load from the fish will be what it is working on instead.

Water temp? Lighting?
ph NO NI readings?

Just wondering.

OHH... how old is it?

[Redhaloangel]

I had ammonia in there until last a few days ago when it read 0 ammonia ill go buy another test kit I have a nitrate test kit.. I think or it's the other one.. Lol and what type of flakes?? I have some fresh water feeding flakes lying around can I do that?
And my temperature is at 78 ish..

I have no lighting as of now.. I will have it by this weekend it is a led
Illiminux

How do I add ammonia??? I was soo trying to get rid of what was in there lol

[Redhaloangel]

Oh it's about 3.5 weeks old now..

[Revmedia]

I had ammonia in there until last a few days ago when it read 0 ammonia ill go buy another test kit I have a nitrate test kit.. I think or it's the other one.. Lol and what type of flakes?? I have some fresh water feeding flakes lying around can I do that?
And my temperature is at 78 ish..

I have no lighting as of now.. I will have it by this weekend it is a led
Illiminux

How do I add ammonia??? I was soo trying to get rid of what was in there lol

Without a food source the bacteria will die off, and you'll be cycling the tank again when you add fish. How did you add the ammonia to begin with?

If your ammonia reads 0, and your Nitrites are 0, you should probably see a small amount of Nitrates. I'd add a small fish to begin with and monitor the levels to see where you're at. If you add both clowns, you'll need to keep a very close eye on those levels, or you'll end up with a couple dead clowns.

[worm5406]

OK... I know you are biting at the bullet... but lets slow down still...

Start putting some flake food (your fresh is ok for now) Do a pinch a day. It will degrade and convert in the tank and you will see the levels rise back up. Test daily... same time each day. Those levels a/ni/na will peak back up now that you are ghost feeding it too. This adds a fake bio-load to the tank.

Yes get a test kit. Since you are getting a 125 in december... go ahead and get the drip one with the test tubes. Makes for a more accurate test than the strips.

75 ish?? With a heater?

I ran mine up to 82 while cycling to give the bacteria/liverock/livesand a good breeding ground. I have 2x 300 watt heaters.

The adding of the bacteria... (drip by drip) is not showing a true value that it is reproducing in the wild of the tank. You need to get it to a stage that it multiplies on it's own.

Quite a few people frown on adding bottled bacteria. They like it to be from live rock or an already established tank (sand).

The lights till help with any diatom bloom and get that part of the cycle over too.

Are you going to run both tanks? Or is one going to be a QT tank? (you should think about it so you do not wipe out the established one with an impulse purchase.)

[Redhaloangel]

i do not want a couple dead clowns.. i dont know how the ammoina came in.. i thought that just happened naturally.. so what small fish should i add? if im going to be adding a pair of clowns later? ill get that third kit and a fish today.. (fish.. if i get off work on time..) or sometime this week..

[Redhaloangel]

OK... I know you are biting at the bullet... but lets slow down still...

Start putting some flake food (your fresh is ok for now) Do a pinch a day. It will degrade and convert in the tank and you will see the levels rise back up. Test daily... same time each day. Those levels a/ni/na will peak back up now that you are ghost feeding it too. This adds a fake bio-load to the tank. ok will do thankyou :)Yes get a test kit. Since you are getting a 125 in december... go ahead and get the drip one with the test tubes. Makes for a more accurate test than the strips. i allready got the two kits like that so ill get my third like that as well75 ish?? With a heater? yes it is with a heater..

I ran mine up to 82 while cycling to give the bacteria/liverock/livesand a good breeding ground. I have 2x 300 watt heaters. ok ill up my heater..
The adding of the bacteria... (drip by drip) is not showing a true value that it is reproducing in the wild of the tank. You need to get it to a stage that it multiplies on it's own. good to know thankyou :)
Quite a few people frown on adding bottled bacteria. They like it to be from live rock or an already established tank (sand).

The lights till help with any diatom bloom and get that part of the cycle over too.
well im hoping to get the lights this weekend...
Are you going to run both tanks? Or is one going to be a QT tank? (you should think about it so you do not wipe out the established one with an impulse purchase.)i was planning on just having this tank as my clown and anemone tank.. and i was going to get a 50 gallon quarentine tank..


what would you recommend? a 50 gallon quarentene tank? (im sorta gonna be changing one of my rooms into the quarentine and spare tank room.. haha and my big tank is going in my living room while my 30 gallon is now in my kitchen.. or i could eventually turn my 30 gallon in a quarentine tank, and just transfure the fish and anemone to my large 125 gallon.. is a 30 gallon tank big enough for tangs for a quarentine??

[Redhaloangel]

hmm it was suppost to show up purple! (my typing..) im sorry if it is now all confusing to read.. :(

[worm5406]

If you do not know the PH I would not get anything.

You could be way off and burn/kill any cheap starter fish you get.

Ghost feeding will simulate this fish you want to get.

Adding one raw shrimp (out of shell pref) will really start the cycle and simulate the adding of a few fish. As the shrimp decays it puts off byproducts and simulates the adding of fish and makes the bacteria cycle.

[Redhaloangel]

what kind of raw shrimp? just form the grocery store? and then will i eventually have to fish it out or just leave it in there?

[worm5406]

Yes from the grocery store.. Just walk up to seafood and say. One shrimp raw please.

Yes they will look at you strange. If you want to explain... say it is for your new diet... hahaha

Just peel it and toss it in. Yes you will have to get it out later... the bacteria and all will work at cleaning it, instantly...

Some people say to leave it whole... If you decide to cut it up keep in mind you are increasing the surface layer to water on more sides so it will decay faster. Which means a larger increase in A/ni/na.

The ocean was not fine tuned in 3 weeks... so take it slow. In a 30 a small change can cause drastic changes in chemistry. The larger tanks 100+ takes time to get out of whack. So do things in little steps and measure for them....

Another thing to keep in mind... unless you have a test kit for it... do not add it to the tank.... (calcium magnesium stronium haldol children...

OOps... got carried away... hahaha

[Redhaloangel]

Haha yeah ok thank you I will go do that today :)

[haftafish]

I would return the Nem. Your tank is too new. Whatever you spent on the nem get credit and get a good test kit.

[reeferstace]

I suggest that you slow down some and read a lot before stocking your tank. There are some very good stickies on here (at the top of this forum). Read them.

Anemones require very stable water parameters and a well established tank with proper lighting. I would not add one for many months.

Please do not add any fish until your ammonia and nitrite levels have risen and fallen back to zero. It is ok to have a bit of nitrate. This indicates that your nitrogen cycle is "finished" (It's not really finished. It means your tank is ready for a bioload increase up from just bacteria.)

You kick-start the nitrogen cycle by adding a food souce for bacteria. This can come in the form of some flake food introduce via "ghost feeding" or the introduction of a raw shrimp like already suggested. I just ghost feed. It's not as messy or smelly as the shrimp and gets the job done.


CUC= clean-up crew. Basically these are the scavengers/janitors of your tank who help remove uneaten food, detritus, etc. I use a variety of snails and a few crabs. In a freshly set-up tank you want to only add a few since there won't be a huge supply of food for them. Gradually increase their numbers depending upon tank size.

[MrTuskfish]

Have you read the stickies on the tank cycle? Knowing how ammonia is produced and what happens to it is vital info for anyone.
I sure agree with the anemone comments; they seldom do well in new tanks and they are not for new hobbyists. I wouldn't even consider an anemone until you've successfully kept a reef tank for a year or so.