3rd day

[StarOrbs]

I'm on my third day of cycling and I've added 5 tsp of ammonia everyday and today the ammonia is at 5ppm or a little bit above and I'm wondering if I should stop adding ammonia till the level goes down or should I keep adding the 5 tsp everyday until the nitrite spikes?

 

[glolite]

Keep adding every day but reduce the amount. When the nitrites spike, water change but you have to keep adding a little ammonia daily otherwise the tank will stop cycling.

 

[Slyspy]

I would say from experience to keep adding the same amount every day (it should be enough to give a reading of about 5ppm each day) and only reduce (to about half the amount) when the nitrites spike. No need to water change during a cycle unless you find that the nitrates are allowing algae to build up.

 

[sylvia]

I agree - just remember to do a large water change before adding fish to lower nitrAtes. However, I don't agree with halving the amount when the nitrIte spikes - you can do this but there realy is no reason to if your tank is cycling correctly. The more ammonia you add, the more fish your tank can hold at the end of the cycle so if you keep adding the same amount daily as you did the first day (it should have read 5 ppm then) you'll get an ammonia spike as the ammonia builds up and then a nitrIte spike and then a fully cycled tank with a nitrAte spike. There's nothing wrong with halving the amount and it might speed up the process but in the end you can't hold as many fish at once. Then you can add fish

 

[StarOrbs]

Alright thanks for the info.