Ammonia always reads .25ppm

[Naok]

So I’ve been cycling for 6 weeks now (since the week before Christmas) and my nitrite has been stable at 0 for a week, and my ammonia has been stable at .25ppm. I did discover that my tap has 1ppm ammonia in it so maybe that’s why? But the tank has not changed and I don’t know whether or not to just reintroduce my axolotl or not. She’s started to somewhat fill into her tub and I don’t have a next size up for the tank to keep going on 0nitrite and .25ammonia forever. So I’m either thinking it’s as low as it can get and I’m getting a false reading (because I read that somewhere) or my ph being low is keeping the tank from finishing cycling? But the ammonia part of the cycle happens first which is why I’m confused. And the ph is like 6.4, I’ve been using API’s proper ph 7.0 to try and raise it up but I’ve had next to no luck so far.

 

[AMurry24537]

It could be that you have ammonia in your tap water. Try testing that. What kind of test kit are you using btw? Strips are often unreliable; I recommend API's liquid test kit that lets you test ammonia, ph, nitrites, and nitrates. You don't want to put your axolotl in unless all of these (except ph, that should be about 7.6) are at 0. Seachem Prime may help to detoxify the ammonia, but you have to keep a close eye on it as it's only temporary. My tank took about 2 months to fully cycle btw.

Besides Prime, Seachem also has products to help get ph wherever you need it to be.

 

[Naok]

I already know my tap has ammonia it always reads 1ppm. I use api’s test kit and have used prime since day one, and recently add seed bacteria daily. The tests have been entirely consistent and I test once in the morning once in the evening.