Too much Ammonia?

[Aran Valente]

Hi, I've been cycling my tank for two months and tested some water. The results were Nitrite: 0, Nitrate: 0, Ph:8.0, and Ammonia: .25. Is the Ammonia too high for the shrimp?

[attygirl]

Yes. Ammonia is supposed to be zero. What do you have in your tank - something is decaying and causing the ammonia spike or your tank is not fully cycled. I would not add shrimp until you get ammonia down to zero.

[Dch48]

I'm not saying you should add the shrimp but I will say this. If you are using the API liquid test kit, the color of the water will never be as yellow as what is on the color strip. All my tanks always show a very slight green tinge to the yellow. Fresh water and the brackish. At a pH of 8.0, all of the ammonia that actually is present will be of the toxic variety so I'd be cautious.