Is it possible my cycle failed due to no water changes??

[marcj]

Hey all. I am a newbie at the reef thing, so I have some questions.

My nano tank is about 4 months old, and seemed to have went through the cycle process. I got the brown haze, it went away, I've had purple coraline spreading like crazy, lots of green algae, sponge growth, feather dusters, hermits, snails, only 1 turbo snail has died recently.

The thing I don't understand is; My ammonia levels never dropped to 0ppm, the ammonia level has spiked from the obvious, but never actually went below .5ppm based on my API test kit.. I never did test for nitrites or nitrates.

Is it possible my bacteria died after the cycle because I never did water changes? I just topped it off with distilled water constantly.

I just added a new 8 lbs. live rock with some zoas and carpet anemone on it, and did a 20% water change, and added a little BioZyme that claims to help start or enhance the biofilter. any advice or input is greatly appreciated. hopefully the life on my rock doesn't perish.

[david426]

Hi there and welcome!
Lack of water changes will not kill your bacteria. As for ammonia still registering after four months could be from an old test kit or old food and detritus rotting on the bottom of the tank. Detritus can be removed during water changes. Try having your local fish store run a test for you. One more thing; adding live rock will almost always cause an ammonia spike. Making sure it is well cured will help. Now would be a good time for that first water change; it will lower toxicity levels. Good luck!

[marcj]

good news! it's an EXTREMELY old ammonia test kit. I couldn't even tell you how old.. over 4 years

[david426]

The reagents certainly have a limited shelf life.

[Loverotties]

Do all your test now.

[Mr.Peanut]

After that long, your test kit is probably giving you a false reading.

[VWD]

I agree on the false readings