Fishless cycling

Essjay said:

Have you added any bottled bacteria? If so, which brand?

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Essjay said:

Have you put any media from another tank in there?

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Essjay said:

Are there any live plants in the tank?
Or have you just put brand new substrate, maybe bits of new wood or rocks and added nothing but the ammonia?

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Essjay said:

The Quick Start may account for it. Many of these bottled bacteria contain the correct ammonia eaters, though I have no idea if this brand is one of them.

I would not add any more ammonia yet as you cannot know the ppm ammonia when it was added.

Follow the method on here.

You should be testing for ammonia and nitrite every third day. You added ammonia last Saturday so the testing schedule is test for ammonia and nitrite on Tuesday (10th), Friday (13th), Monday (16th) and so on until you reach a day where ammonia is less than 0.75 ppm and nitrite is over 2.0 ppm. You need both those levels not just one of them. Do not add any more ammonia until then.
When you get those readings, let us know and we'll talk you though the next step.

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Essjay said:

The Quick Start may account for it. Many of these bottled bacteria contain the correct ammonia eaters, though I have no idea if this brand is one of them.

I would not add any more ammonia yet as you cannot know the ppm ammonia when it was added.

Follow the method on here.

You should be testing for ammonia and nitrite every third day. You added ammonia last Saturday so the testing schedule is test for ammonia and nitrite on Tuesday (10th), Friday (13th), Monday (16th) and so on until you reach a day where ammonia is less than 0.75 ppm and nitrite is over 2.0 ppm. You need both those levels not just one of them. Do not add any more ammonia until then.
When you get those readings, let us know and we'll talk you though the next step.

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Essjay said:

Nitrite has begun to show up, so test ammonia and nitrite again in 3 days. The latest readings have not reached the targets for adding more ammonia, so it's a waiting game now to reach those targets.

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Tyler777 said:

Ok, thank you so much for your help

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Essjay said:

Nitrite has begun to show up, so test ammonia and nitrite again in 3 days. The latest readings have not reached the targets for adding more ammonia, so it's a waiting game now to reach those targets.

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Essjay said:

Nitrite is well below the target for adding the next dose of ammonia. But the ammonia reading was low when you tested a few days after adding it though we didn't know whether that's because you didn't add enough or because the bottled bacteria you added had removed it.

Since both ammonia and nitrite are both low now it suggests the amount of ammonia you added wasn't enough. The bottled bacteria you used doesn't contain the nitrite eaters which grow in fish tanks; it contains nitrite eaters which need a high level of nitrite.
In this case, it seems to me the way to proceed is to add more ammonia. This time, add the ammonia then test for ammonia after 30 minutes (set an alert on your phone to remind you ). If the reading is over 2 but less than 3 ppm, good; make a note of the amount you add. If it's lower than 2 ppm you need to add more. So for example, if the reading is 1 ppm, you need to add twice as much as you just added; or if the reading is just below 2 ppm, add half the amount you just added. But make a note of the total amount you add. If you do need to add more, test for ammonia after another 30 minutes to check the level.

Once you've added enough ammonia, wait for 3 days and test again for both ammonia and nitrite.

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Essjay said:

Nitrite is well below the target for adding the next dose of ammonia. But the ammonia reading was low when you tested a few days after adding it though we didn't know whether that's because you didn't add enough or because the bottled bacteria you added had removed it.

Since both ammonia and nitrite are both low now it suggests the amount of ammonia you added wasn't enough. The bottled bacteria you used doesn't contain the nitrite eaters which grow in fish tanks; it contains nitrite eaters which need a high level of nitrite.
In this case, it seems to me the way to proceed is to add more ammonia. This time, add the ammonia then test for ammonia after 30 minutes (set an alert on your phone to remind you ). If the reading is over 2 but less than 3 ppm, good; make a note of the amount you add. If it's lower than 2 ppm you need to add more. So for example, if the reading is 1 ppm, you need to add twice as much as you just added; or if the reading is just below 2 ppm, add half the amount you just added. But make a note of the total amount you add. If you do need to add more, test for ammonia after another 30 minutes to check the level.

Once you've added enough ammonia, wait for 3 days and test again for both ammonia and nitrite.

Click to expand...

Essjay said:

Nitrite is well below the target for adding the next dose of ammonia. But the ammonia reading was low when you tested a few days after adding it though we didn't know whether that's because you didn't add enough or because the bottled bacteria you added had removed it.

Since both ammonia and nitrite are both low now it suggests the amount of ammonia you added wasn't enough. The bottled bacteria you used doesn't contain the nitrite eaters which grow in fish tanks; it contains nitrite eaters which need a high level of nitrite.
In this case, it seems to me the way to proceed is to add more ammonia. This time, add the ammonia then test for ammonia after 30 minutes (set an alert on your phone to remind you ). If the reading is over 2 but less than 3 ppm, good; make a note of the amount you add. If it's lower than 2 ppm you need to add more. So for example, if the reading is 1 ppm, you need to add twice as much as you just added; or if the reading is just below 2 ppm, add half the amount you just added. But make a note of the total amount you add. If you do need to add more, test for ammonia after another 30 minutes to check the level.

Once you've added enough ammonia, wait for 3 days and test again for both ammonia and nitrite.

Click to expand...

Essjay said:

Can you talk us through what you did.
How much ammonia did you add? If you used Dr Tim's ammonium chloride the dose rate is 4 drops per US gallon or 5 ml in 25 gallons of actual water (not what the manufacturers say the volume is)
When you read the test, was it in daylight or was the room light on? The reason I ask is that some types of light bulb make the ammonia test look greener than it really is. Fluorescent lights (long tubes or those coiled up compact fluorescent lights) are well known for this. Old fashioned bulbs, halogen and LEDs are usually OK.


On Wednesday you reported having 0.5 ppm ammonia in the tank water.
If you added the right amount of ammonia, it should have been around 3 ppm. It's difficult to read that level accurately as it's between colours on the chart, but it should have been yellower than 4 ppm and greener than 2 ppm.

On my screen, the colour looks to be 4 ppm; if that's what it looks like to you, that's OK. Just leave it and test every 3 days.
But if it does look like 8 to you, I would take some water out and replace it with dechlorinated tap water. If you do this, check the ammonia level after half an hour.

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