farr18 Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Hi I started my first 55 gal tank month and a half ago. I put in 12 starter fish for a month used the prime quick start used water conditioner but can't get rid of ammonia in my tank. Every time I test my water I get the same result of 1 ppm ammonia 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates. None of the starter fish died so now I have put in 12 African cichlids and donated back the starter fish. I was tired of waiting. I just did a partial water change and added prime water conditioner with it. Any ideas about what I should do? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Sounds strange. Old test kit? They do expire. Is this strip tests or drop tests? Have you EVER got any other readings than 1ppm ammonia, 0 0 nitrite nitrate? For a a 6 week tank it should be fully cycled. Not saying you are not but have to ask...are the instructions being followed correctly? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I'm with ckmullin, here. After 6 weeks with fish, as long as there's adequate filtration, the tank is almost certainly cycled. Looks like a faulty test kit to me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CORVETTE Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Test some bottled water with it, or try a friends tank with the test kit. That will let you know if the kit is what's wrong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farr18 Posted April 6, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 I bought every thing new from big al Edmonton store. I am using Marineland Pengiun power filter 50 to 70 gal (with two bio wheels). There is no bacteria built up what so ever on the bio wheels. A couple of times I have seen 0.5 ppm of ammonia. One thing I did was, I did not add the quick start in the beginning, I added it after 3 weeks. Can you guys advice me what should I do at this point in time? I have 4 electric yellows , 2 electric blues, 2 snow whites, 2 red zebras and 2 frontosas in the tank. Should I just keep adding the prime water conditioner to the tank until the ammonia test turn yellow ??? I also took the water to big al for testing and same results. Nitrite and Nitrate never go above 0. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ckmullin Posted April 6, 2015 Report Share Posted April 6, 2015 Nitrite at zero on a cycled tank is fine, you will only get a nitrite reading when a tank is being cycled...so good news perhaps on that. Nitrate is needed for a planted tank so if you have nothing that will be an issue, if you don't want live plants don't worry about it then. Something is just weird. Throw up a picture of your tank. Is there waste at the bottom which is rotting? Is there dead fish which is decaying? No, don't keep adding that conditioner to make a test yellow. When the store tested your water, what level did they find with the ammonia? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
farr18 Posted April 7, 2015 Author Report Share Posted April 7, 2015 Store also got the same result of 1 ppm. I don't have real plants in there. I also did some gravel vacuuming on Saturday and did a partial water change of 30%. I did this after 7 weeks of buying the tank.I did lose one starter fish but I assumed that blue electric ate it coz I couldn't locate the body. I returned rest of the starter fish to store. The fish seems to be active in the tank. Feeding thr m twice and temperature of tank is 80 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishclubgirl Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Tank looks good, fish are fine. Question, why are you testing the water? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
zoopkamol Posted April 21, 2015 Report Share Posted April 21, 2015 Over feeding is a great cause of excess ammonia. Most of us including myself have overfed our fish. Fish can fast for longer than we think. Fish look good Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullymoto Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 (edited) Your not having a problem. Relax. Breathe. You say your using prime to remove chloromine from your water. Prime + cloromine = false positive on cheap ammonia tests. Do some research on prime. Great product, I highly recommend it and use it myself, have for years. You will ALWAYS see ammonia on a test strip when using prime. Edited April 22, 2015 by cullymoto Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cullymoto Posted April 22, 2015 Report Share Posted April 22, 2015 I would like to add to my above post. Don't bother with any other tap water conditioner, you've started with literally the best quality conditioner there is. Except, use seachem safe. It's prime minus water, more bang for the buck. Follow the directions on the label, safe / prime and you can't go wrong. Get used to the false positive ammonia test. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baos Posted April 29, 2015 Report Share Posted April 29, 2015 (edited) My tap water has 1ppm ammonia. While I was using tap water, it actually left my tank in cleaner condition. If you're worried, there is ammonia absorbing media, or perhaps some fast growing plant you can get which may become a weed problem later. Edited April 29, 2015 by Baos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TFee2012 Posted May 29, 2015 Report Share Posted May 29, 2015 Overfeeding caused our ammonia levels to spike as well. Try smaller feedings... we do two smaller feedings a day Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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