a few questions please.

[rutherford]

they are up lol

[Parrothead]

are we showing any nitrites today????????????

[rutherford]

amonia 0.5 ppm
nitrite 0 ppm
nitrate 20 ppm
pH 8.2
salinity 1.023
temp 82 degrees

I have an ammonia remover in my canister filter and I am wondering if that is preventing the initial spike in ammonia.... and thus preventing the cycle starting/reaching its full efficacy? So, should I take it out or does it not matter??

I think we wrote on this wall at the same time, which is why you may not have seen this earlier post.. which is why I was a bit confused... nevertheless here it is. also thoughts on my question?

[Parrothead]

I'd pull it out, but then my tank with the exception of the carbon, is all natural.

Something is holding up the nitrites but you are showing nitrates(the final step in the nitrogen cycle), that is weird, I don't see the substrate screwing up anything, if anything it should be boosting the amm and nitrites, this is weird, do you have a lfs near you, or perhaps a fellow hobbyist who could double check your nitrites, just for the giggles of it, if they read nothing something else is happening if they show a reading we know we may have a faulty test kit, kinda sorta where I'm leaning

[rutherford]

alright. I am going to remove the ammonia remover outta my canister now, and I will take a water sample to my lfs and have them check it as a second opinion.
cheers
I will post on here later tonight the results of their tests.

[Parrothead]

Good deal, it just seems weird that you have amm and nitrates and no nitrites, let me know what they say when you get the results

[leebca]

Best alternative to a chiller is the room A/C combined with fans. But, the top should be removed from the aquarium (if it can be) and the fans should be directed to blow on the surface, covering as much of the surface as possible. The high evaporation will cool better that fans on the aquarium walls.

However, with the high evaporation rate, keep the salt steady by adding back distilled or salt-free water.

[rutherford]

cool thx for the tips lee, I was able to successfully lower my temp to about 80 today using the fan on the side of the tank aswell as the AC cranked. That being said I will invest in a smaller fan that is able to be mounted to blow directly on the surface, I removed the cover as that was my first line of defence from the heat. Anyways, about my weird levels, so I spoke to my LFS he told me that the area I live in has trace amounts of nitrate in the tap water (which I have been using thus far) which explains the 20 ppm. He ran all the tests that I had, and got the same readings as I did. I did however take out the combo amonia/charcoal remover from my canister filter and added a TON of activated charcoal in its place (thx lee for the water quality post) anyways tested my water with my own kit right before I took it in to the store and my nitrites have risen. The store corroborates all my findings which is pleasing to say the least. I will post all the details tomorrow. Just an update.

[twisted]

sounds like you got the source figured out i would definitly recommend using r/o or distilled for your top off and water changes. nitrate,phosphate, and other undesirable are often found in the tap.

[Parrothead]

[rutherford]

New Levels....

ammonia 0.25 ppm
nitrite 0.25 ppm
nitrate 20 ppm
pH 8.2
salinity 1.023
temp 82 degrees

so good news that it seems that the cycle has definately started. I am still dealing with a heat issue, doing my best to keep it at bay for now. anyways I have seen on here some posts from lee about clean up crews and turbo snails, anyways some of the links work and some dont for me (I should have bookmarked them when I had them.) Unfortunately I can only find the ones that dont work right now. Wondering if someone could give me some good sites for appropriate clean up crews that are confirmed working.
cheers

Dave

[Parrothead]

check out inland aquatics, not sure if they ship international, you would need to check with them, just tell them what you have and they will take care of you. Ninong has turned several people on to them.