Question On Wood...

[TerraDreamer]

Does decaying wood produce ammonia?

I have a piece of waterlogged driftwood in my tank. I'm cycling with 4 inches of danio fish, and haven't seen a noticeable drop in my ammonia level, which is currently at <0.01 ppm and has been there for the better part of a week, and I'm entering my third week of cycling. At the peak of ammonia, it was much higher and I kept it lower with water changes, but have since cut back when the ammonia reached this lower level. Would the wood be keeping the ammonia up? It's not like it's falling apart or anything, but obviously the wood is going through a slow decay process, as will any wood.

I'd hate to remove it at this point for fear of also removing any beneficial bacteria which may be growing on it. At this point, I want to limit water exchanges unless the Nitrite goes through the roof.

29 gallon tank, 78F, <0.07 Nitrite, fish are healthy and eating well, with limited feedings (flake once a day, very lightly)

Thanks,

Steve

 

[confusion]

What are your nitrate levels? It is possible that your tank is cycled. Are you certain the ammonia and nitrite levels are correct? most test kits can't measure levels that low, but if it can, I suspect those are the normal background amounts in transit to being converted by the bacteria.

 

[TerraDreamer]

Oops! My bad, I apologize. I supplied my values incorrectly. Thank you for catching that.

I'm using a test kit called Fresh Lab, by Red Sea. For the toxic ammonia reading, and using their included chart (which shows % toxic ammonia levels based on water temp and pH values) and separate color coded card, it gives me a reading of less than 0.6 ppm of toxic ammonia. I've figured the amount of toxic ammonia in the total disolved ammonia. I've also used Ammo Lock.

The nitrite reading was a simple split in the color value on the supplied color card.

Am I reading this wrong? Is anyone else familiar with the Red Sea test kit? Can you suggest a better testing kit then the one I have? I was thinking of the big Master kit by API, but it does not test for nitrAtes. Suggestion for a nitrAte test kit?

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Cycling with fish can take a long time, using Ammo Lock will also prolong the cycle, the water quality will probably not be stable for at least 3months.

 

[crazie.eddie]

Cycling with fish actually will not take a long time. I would think it would take just as long if you cycled fish or if you did fishless cycling. Cycling with fish, you start adding fish, but slowly. Fishless cycling, you have to add ammonia and wait for the levels to stabilize, then eventually, you can add fish.

As regards to the wood, was it purchased from a store or something you found outside. If it's something you picked up outside, make sure all has been dead and dried for a long time, like several years, I have heard. Also the bark has to be removed, becuase this would decay too easy.

I also suggest avoid using Ammo lock. You are just hindering the cycling process.

What fish are in the tank?

You can also feed every other day to limit the amount of waste produced.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

Cycling with fish actually will not take a long time. I would think it would take just as long if you cycled fish or if you did fishless cycling. Cycling with fish, you start adding fish, but slowly. Fishless cycling, you have to add ammonia and wait for the levels to stabilize, then eventually, you can add fish.

With fishless cycling, you can allow the ammonia levels to rise very high as there are no fish to worry about in the tank- the more ammonia you put into the tank, the faster it'll cycle (in general).
However with cycling using fish, you cannot allow the ammonia levels to rise much at all as ammonia is obviously very toxic to fish, so you have to keep on doing lots of water changes to help reduce the ammonia levels in the tank to help keep the fish alive and healthy. Because ammonia levels are kept very low for the safety of the fish, it takes a lot longer to cycle the tank.

 

[crazie.eddie]

That's why you add fish slowly at a time. Seriously, it's nothing new. Many people have done it lots of time. Just think, when you start adding ammonia, I'm already adding fish. You have to test the water to make sure the proper amount of ammonia is added and when to add more. When cycling with fish, you still add fish slowly. By the time you figure you should add fish, I am probably done with adding the fish. No problems. This is a common practice. No fish deaths. I've started several tanks using discus, L-018 gold nuggets, harlequin rasboras, etc.