Ammonia problem.

[Sue Gremlin]

Wow. You learn something new every day. Sheesh!

[DavidB86]

The test kit is only about a month old, its by API.

Good news.. sorta.

The tank's ammonia is going down slowly:

Last night at 3am: 6.0 ppm
Today at 3pm: 5.0ppm ish
Tonight just now (1:30am): 4.0ppm ish

Nitrite levels are weird though, they jump from .25 to 2.0 back down to .50, etc etc, without any water changes. That test kit is also by API and is about a month old.

I just added another 55 gallon tank to my collection today, which im going to try adding live plants to when the time is right also. This time im going to play it safe and just fishless cycle it

[lochness]

all great info here and yes my tap water in NY had a reading of 1.0 ammonia lol - for future reference you can also use the gravel from a cycled established tank and place it (wet with the tank water from first tank) in a new tank for help with beneficial bacteria - including the slimey filters - stay away from stress zyme. Use Prime water conditioner to condition tap water and water changes and when you clean decor and filter pads do so in a bucket with the tank's water - not tap water. If something is very unsightly, scrub it - dont use cleaning product nor bleach (this is more for seasoned aquarists and even then not my fav method to read about) and if worse comes to worse trash it and buy a new decor. And yea, I had the same prob with finding Bio-Spira :\