Amoniac level

[VANewbie]

I am new to the salt water. I just setup my tank 5 week ago. The test today came out with very high Amonia level. Do we have any way to control amoniac level instead of sitting there to wait for the biological filter to do the work?

 

Thanks

[unninair]

Patience is the name of the game..... I would suggest waiting for it to drop on its own.

[quazi]

More data please. What is in your tank and when was it added?

 

In general, 5 weeks is a long time for the amonia levels to be so high. You may want to perform a water change (20%). Are you using RO water for Water make up and SW making?

[VANewbie]

More data please.  What is in your tank and when was it added?

 

In general, 5 weeks is a long time for the amonia levels to be so high.  You may want to perform a water change (20%).  Are you using RO water for Water make up and SW making?

50472[/snapback]

 

My tank is 180g with 200lbs live rocks. The rocks were added 5 weeks ago. Yes, I am using RO.

Edited January 19, 2006 by VANewbie

[flowerseller]

Are you testing for nitrite, if so where are you?

[davelin315]

Did you buy cured live rock or uncured? The amount of die off that you can have on new rock could explain why you have high ammonia levels. If you've got ammonia at high levels, I would guess that it's compounding the die off on the rock and making it take even longer to cycle. It'll take you a few more weeks before it's ready to go is my guess. Try and boost the temperature in your tank to around 85 or so and try and aerate your tank as much as possible. This will aid the bacterial growth and get you on the right track. Oh, and as someone else mentioned, test for nitrites. If you've got nitrites, you're into the second part of your cycle. If you've also got high nitrates, you're into the 3rd part of the cycle and it's well on it's way. Monitor every few days to see if any levels go up and down and that will help you to determine the health of your biological filter.

[VANewbie]

Thank you all for your answers. I think my tank could be able to survive when I stay in this forum.

My nitrite was at 2.0 yesterday. BTW, I just saw some green stuff growing up from the rocks. It's a good sign, isn't it?

 

Thank you again

[quazi]

Yes, green stuff is generally a good thing. Although it may be cynobacteria. However, you are probably getting the first of a lot of algae.

 

Are you skimming your tank? If so, what kind of protein skimmer are you using?

 

Is there anything in your tank other than live rock and what ever came in with the live rock?