Ammonia and nitrate the same?????

So my tank is probably on its 8th week. I have periodically added a little bit of baserock/liverock up until the beginning of last week( also added 10 more pounds of sand two weeks ago). I have also began testing. I fully understand the nitrogen cycle but i dont understand why my results are still like this.


Ammonia
0.25 4/3/2010
0.5 4/6/2010
0.25 4/11/2010
Nitrates
0 4/3/2010
0 4/6/2010
0 4/11/2010
I know i need a nitrite test kit, trying to find a LFS that has one. But anyways the ammonia is really hard to tell what value it is at. Everything under 1.0ppm is hard to distinguish. Is 1.0ppm really that deadly to fish? or even a cleanup crew? What i dont understand is that my nitrates are still 0. I feel as though if my tank were beginning to be established i shuold have some form of nitrates. I have gone through the whole diatom bloom and what not, and now I am starting to see the beginnings of green growth on my LR which im assuming is algae. When can I order my CuC??? I really want to use reef cleaners but I dont want them to die. I have had 1 chromis and 2 turbo snails in this tank for at least a month that is doing totally fine, however my 3 hermit crabs have become somewhat reclusive and i dont really see them anymore....sry its so long just trying to fully explain everything.

 

how big is your tank in comparison to how much live stuff you have in your tank? Could still just be cycling, everyones tank cycles differently, or you are having a lot of die off from the LR & LS and your biological filter isnt strong enough to convert it as fast as the ammonia is being made, give it some more time

 

You’re correct – you need to test your nitrites. I would also suggest you get your water tested by your LFS just to make sure you are testing correctly.

While your tank is cycling your nitrite’s should remain relatively low, if they spike high it indicates a problem with your cycle. A cycle can go bad when the nitrite oxidizers die off and the much stronger ammonia oxidizers thrive. You can see this if your N02 tests high.

But you said your beginning to grow algae on your LR, I suspect your test results are not the best. Have your water tested by a lfs. Your ammonia really should be zero, to answer your question – I doubt it’s high enough to kill a fish, but I wouldn’t suggest you add anything until you can test for everything. As for a nitrite kit, order it online.

 

so basically to sum things up.......
1) Get a nitrite kit
2) Get water tested by a LFS
3) Wait a little longer

 

Every time you added more rock, whether dry or live, you added more organic material that will break down into ammonia and eventually nitrate. So basically, you continued your cycle when you added the new rock. I would wait longer until your parameters for ammonia and nitrite are at 0, then you can add livestock, but slowly.

And yes, ammonia in any significant concentration is toxic and will stress the fish and especially the inverts.

 

I can only agree.... test your water parameters on a constant basis and before you add any lifestock have it tested by your lfs. That's what I always do because sometimes the kits that are sold are not as accurate!!!

 

alright this all makes sense to me. However my snails and the chromis are doing fine, yet i am not really seeing my 3 hermits anymore.....there is a lot of bristleworms and tons of life, but im wondering whats happened to my hermits.