Too much or too little Prime?

[Peekay]

Are you feeding the tank?  ie.  Putting in a pinch of food every day to decompose. 
This is what would create the ammonia to start the cycle, and why you should eventually see nitrates. 

[dnas17]

No there has been nothing in the tank to cause any form of ammonia yet. I have seen some levels of nitrites 0.25ppm but never any nitrate.

[Hookup]

hey  looks like you're on your way.


if you have time i'm curious;

a) what is your brand of test kit (salt, pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and any other)
b) what is your saility at?  many test kits are designed to work based upon a specific SG.
c) what is your tank temp at (range day/nite)
d) are you testing at approximately the same time?  i.e. the tank does flux over 24 hours


and one last question;
Why are you using prime at all?  I'm not aware of this being a common practice.


Anyhow, others here have talked a lot about tanks needing to cycle, and it looks like sound advise.  Good luck.  Happy reefing.

[dnas17]

A) Its an API master test kit saltwater
B) Salinity is 1.024
C) temp has been 77.5 consistently
D)i usually test every 3-4 hrs

Im using prime cause i used tap water to fill up my tank.

[Hookup]

I had assumed.  The better test kits will give you proper results consistently.  I'd go with Salfert kits or Hana checkers.

You might be seeing the limits of what entry level test kits are capable of.

How do you measure salinity? 

[dnas17]

Using a hydrometer, just a standard instant ocean