Hey all
So about three weeks ago I started a new 29 gallon aquarium and received some good advice and help from the board. I took the advice to make it a live planted aquarium and now have 10 or so plants of varying sizes and types - Wisteria, Anubias, Amazon Sword, Water Lily, Java Fern, and a smaller type of Sword. There is also a piece of driftwood in the tank about 10 inches or so long that I bought pre-soaked. Somewhere amongst those items a snail or two has migrated to my tank and they have been exploring for a couple weeks now.
Now I was under the impression that if I planted the tank that it would more or less eliminate the cycling process - no spikes this way or that. Plants use the ammonia to grow etc. Despite the fact I was told it would be ok to add fish right away if the tank was planted well enough I have been waiting until the ammonia level came down. Here is where my dilemma/question comes into play (sorry it took me a bit to get there wanted you to have some background haha).
I bought the API liquid test kits for pH, Ammonia, Nitrates, etc. and have been testing for a couple weeks now. I follow the instructions to the letter and I have never had a reading above 0 for Nitrates. On the other hand I ALWAYS have a .25 reading on the Ammonia test. Everytime I test it turns that lightish green which indicates .25 -- thats not quite the yellow to indicate 0 ammonia. I have tested everyday for 2 weeks at various times - morning, night, mid day on weekends, and the last two weeks it has been "stuck" on that .25 Shouldnt the plants be reducing that? Anyway if you have any thoughts as to why this might be or what I should be doing to combat it any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much.
So about three weeks ago I started a new 29 gallon aquarium and received some good advice and help from the board. I took the advice to make it a live planted aquarium and now have 10 or so plants of varying sizes and types - Wisteria, Anubias, Amazon Sword, Water Lily, Java Fern, and a smaller type of Sword. There is also a piece of driftwood in the tank about 10 inches or so long that I bought pre-soaked. Somewhere amongst those items a snail or two has migrated to my tank and they have been exploring for a couple weeks now.
Now I was under the impression that if I planted the tank that it would more or less eliminate the cycling process - no spikes this way or that. Plants use the ammonia to grow etc. Despite the fact I was told it would be ok to add fish right away if the tank was planted well enough I have been waiting until the ammonia level came down. Here is where my dilemma/question comes into play (sorry it took me a bit to get there wanted you to have some background haha).
I bought the API liquid test kits for pH, Ammonia, Nitrates, etc. and have been testing for a couple weeks now. I follow the instructions to the letter and I have never had a reading above 0 for Nitrates. On the other hand I ALWAYS have a .25 reading on the Ammonia test. Everytime I test it turns that lightish green which indicates .25 -- thats not quite the yellow to indicate 0 ammonia. I have tested everyday for 2 weeks at various times - morning, night, mid day on weekends, and the last two weeks it has been "stuck" on that .25 Shouldnt the plants be reducing that? Anyway if you have any thoughts as to why this might be or what I should be doing to combat it any help would be appreciated. Thank you so much.