ammonia not very high during cycle

Orlando-Jeff

Active Member
My cycle s coming along nicely in my C-130. I did notice that the ammonia level only got to 2ppm before the nitrites started. Last time I cycled a tank, the ammonia reached 5ppm before nitrites kicked in. The ammonia is going down. It's now .50ppm, nitrites are 1ppm and nitrates are 5ppm. I guess everything is going in the right direction so no need to worry....right? By the way, I used the shrimp method to cycle the tank.
 

whippetguy

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
PREMIUM
The live sand may have kept your ammonia levels from reaching the higher ammonia numbers.
 

Orlando-Jeff

Active Member
Thanks for the info. Never thought of that. I'm thinking that my last tank was 20 gallon and I used 1 shrimp. This tank is 34 gallons so maybe 1 shrimp didn't bring the number up that high.
 

Luukosian

Well-Known Member
Sounds like you're headed in the right direction. As long as ammonia is going down and nitrites going up I wouldn't be too focused on the numbers. I usually try to stay away from micromanaging the cycle and just let it take its course. Next step, nitrates.
 
Top