Its so weird...

[KevLarr]

Marine take has cycled at least 3 weeks now and ammonia is .25 and not coming down.. just set up 3 new fresh water tanks and ran ammonia test, tested at 0 on all 3 tanks. Tested the water coming out tap it tested at 0.... where is the ammonia coming from?? The only thing in tank is live sand, live rock, some dry rock, and reef salt

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Marine take has cycled at least 3 weeks now and ammonia is .25 and not coming down.. just set up 3 new fresh water tanks and ran ammonia test, tested at 0 on all 3 tanks. Tested the water coming out tap it tested at 0.... where is the ammonia coming from?? The only thing in tank is live sand, live rock, some dry rock, and reef salt

Welcome to the forum!

Ammonia usually comes from fish waste, but it can also come from uneaten food or decaying organic matter. You mentioned you have live rock, which can house a number of invertebrates and other smaller organisms, all of which produce waste. There might also be algae starting to breaking down in the cracks and crevices of the rocks.

 

[KevLarr]

Welcome to the forum!

Ammonia usually comes from fish waste, but it can also come from uneaten food or decaying organic matter. You mentioned you have live rock, which can house a number of invertebrates and other smaller organisms, all of which produce waste. There might also be algae starting to breaking down in the cracks and crevices of the rocks.

 

[KevLarr]

Ty for that it had me really baffled...I have some macro algae ordered, it should help to bring it back to 0

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Ty for that it had me really baffled...I have some macro algae ordered, it should help to bring it back to 0

Sounds good, the macro algae should definitely help. Try to remove any dead/dying algae you can see.

 

[Donya]

Have you double-checked the reading with another test kit (such as at a LFS)?

Could also be you got "live" sand that was actually dead. If it was exposed to prolonged high heat in transit or if it simply sat on the shelf for a really long time, the bacteria will have died off and it will be like adding a waste bomb to a tank. Those cases take a very long time to get sorted out compared to if the sand had been in good condition.

Either way, if your ammonia reading turns out to be correct, just wait it out and let the live rock work on that ammonia. Could also be an unusual amount of die-off from the rock.