High Ammonia above 8

Karackle

Hey, sounds like you're making progress and getting good advice. I just wanted to throw out there that a trace amount of ammonia multiplied by a lot more sand in your tank than in the test could definitely be parto f your problem (good call on testing that bob!). And some substrates (especially those designed for planted tanks) do leach ammonia for the first few weeks, i wonder whether this sand was meant for planted tanks? (probably not because sand isn't a great planted tank substrate but never hurts to check). It might not hurt to do a quick Google search for that brand and see whether high levels of ammonia are a common "side effect."

Glad to hear the nitrIte reading is on the rise! Good luck!

Loman

Given this data I think the cycle simply did not start as you expected and was delayed for some unknown reason. The trace of ammonia in the substrate is not surprizing as you transfered some water with the substrate and therefore the ammonia in the water. The fact that ammonia is now dropping indicates to me that the bacteria are finally growing that convert ammonia to nitrites. If it continues as I suspect you will see the nitrites increase significantly in the near future.

tigger2929

Well, today wasn't as good... The ammonia is still at 2 but there are no nitrites reading....