What Gives??? (BioBall Test)

[j0tca]

Hi,

So I decided to make a new sump for a turtle tank using 4 gallons of BioBalls for a wet/dry and a 10G tank. This was to be a present, and since there are no rocks in it's destination tank, I figured I'de cycle the bioballs first.

So I setup the 10G sump and a 10G bucket side by side and used a mag5 to flow water between them (sump has overflow), then I peed a bit in the tank (don't ask, couldn't think of another way to bring up amonia). This worked and brought my amonia to about 3.5 ppm.

I then left it moving water through the trickle filter for the last 8 days while I was away. Returning today, I checked my amonia and it was still about 3.5 ppm...

The tank has being held at 72 degrees.

If BioBalls work at all, shouldn't I be seeing a drop in my amonia by now? I've amonia cycled tanks in 8 days with rocks and fish.

I'm flabergasted and am wondering if anyone has any definitive prrof that bioballs work at all. Are they in fact a good breeding ground for our nitrifying bacteria??

Will

[fatboyz]

It can take at least 2 weeks to build up enough bacteria for it to start going down.

[j0tca]

Perhaps, but not in my experience.

I have never seen a system not show a noticeable decline in amonia within the first week. In this case, there is absolutley nothing.


Will

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

In this case, the tank was fairly sterile to begin with, as I understand it. So it may take a lot longer to build up appreciable bacteria compared to if you started with live rock or sand.

Also, pee contain s a lot of urea. People don't pee out much ammonia. The primary nitrogen export method is urea. So the urea may be continuing to break down creating more ammonia.

[j0tca]

Thanks,

I'm sure that's it, I forgot about the urea.

Unfortunatley I had to install it already so I wont be able to continue that experiment further, but thanks for your help.

Will

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

You're welcome.

Good luck. :)