Snails/ammonia Output

[LionessN3cubs]

Im curious as to how much ammonia a bunch of snails could be expected to put out? I have roughly 6-7 snails now and Im in the middle of a fishless cycle...after 26 hours since I last added, my ammonia is still at 1.0. The lowest its ever gone since it started dropping is about .50 and the snails have been in since before the ammonia dropped the first time so Im wondering....if I had 2 snails when it was only dropping to .50 and I now have 6 snails...it would make sense that its not going to drop lower than 1 right? cuz they're in there adding fresh?

Just wondering so I know if I should take that into account when I decide whether the ammonia is dropping to the right level in 24 hours.

Recent tests tonight showed ammonia 1.0 and nitrites at 1.0

 

[Colin_T]

6 snails are unlikely to have any real impact on the ammonia levels unless they are huge mystery snails being fed heaps of food. Even then if the filters have sufficient bacteria they will break down any ammonia produced as soon as it's produced.
An established healthy filter will always drop the ammonia to 0 as long as it is given a chance to do so. If there is a heap of rotting food or a dead fish in the tank the ammonia levels will stay high. But under normal conditions the ammonia level will return to 0 within a short space of time, (usually less than an hour).

Your test results indicate the bacteria that eat the ammonia are not fully established yet but are well on their way to it.

 

[LionessN3cubs]

woohoo...got up this AM and tested and finally saw a 0 ammonia reading! Heck and it only took ummmm 36 hours :::sigh::: well probably not technically, it probably dropped to 0 sometime in the middle of the night but I dont know when and it really doesnt matter right? I put the ammonia back in this morning ...a little over 4 ml's so we'll see what happens now. Hope it doesnt take forever to get it done in 12 hours

 

[Miss Wiggle]

good signs lioness, sounds like you're certainly getting there.