65 gallon cycle help

[Fishyone2]

The nitrate tester is only useful for ball park measurements. It's the least accurate of our testers. My younger son used to work for a water testing company and he was highly amused at our home nitrate tester.

But yes, in theory subtracting the reading for nitrite from the reading for nitrate should give a rough approximation of the true nitrite level.



There's also the possibility that there a few nitrite eaters in the tank; enough to make a bit of nitrate but not enough to reduce the nitrite level to zero yet.

These are my results as of today. It's been 24hrs since last ammonia dose of about 1ppm+

 

[Essjay]

How much ammonia have you added in total? We recommend adding a dose of 3 ppm initially, then further doses depending on where in the cycle. 3 ppm was chosen as being enough to grow more bacteria than a sensibly stocked tank will need, but not enough to make nitrite high enough to stall the cycle.

Looking at your photo, on my screen ammonia looks zero, nitrite between 2 and 5 ppm and nitrate between 0 and 5 ppm.
I suggest you add a 3 ppm dose of ammonia then test every other day until you get zero ammonia and zero ammonia again 2 days later (ignore nitrite & nitrate at this stage)

 

[Fishyone2]

How much ammonia have you added in total? We recommend adding a dose of 3 ppm initially, then further doses depending on where in the cycle. 3 ppm was chosen as being enough to grow more bacteria than a sensibly stocked tank will need, but not enough to make nitrite high enough to stall the cycle.

Looking at your photo, on my screen ammonia looks zero, nitrite between 2 and 5 ppm and nitrate between 0 and 5 ppm.
I suggest you add a 3 ppm dose of ammonia then test every other day until you get zero ammonia and zero ammonia again 2 days later (ignore nitrite & nitrate at this stage)

When i started I followed the instructions for Dr.Tim’s and added 4 drops (so about 200 drop) of ammonia per gallon but subtracting 20% for gravel and decor and it got me to around 2ppm-3ppm when I started. I just dosed 250 drops which should in theory be 3ppm for a 65g and this is what I got. This is 30 minutes after adding ammonia

 

[Fishyone2]

When i started I followed the instructions for Dr.Tim’s and added 4 drops (so about 200 drop) of ammonia per gallon but subtracting 20% for gravel and decor and it got me to around 2ppm-3ppm when I started. I just dosed 250 drops which should in theory be 3ppm for a 65g and this is what I got. This is 30 minutes after adding ammonia

4 drops per gallon (200 drops if I subtracted 20% for decor) I just did 250 drops which is 10 drops shy of a 65 gallon tank W/O subtracting for decor and gravel

 

[Essjay]

It looks around 1 ppm to me but we all know that screens don't always display colours accurately. You can see the tube, what colour does it look to you?

 

[Fishyone2]

When i started I followed the instructions for Dr.Tim’s and added 4 drops (so about 200 drop) of ammonia per gallon but subtracting 20% for gravel and decor and it got me to around 2ppm-3ppm when I started. I just dosed 250 drops which should in theory be 3ppm for a 65g and this is what I got. This is 30 minutes after adding

It looks around 1 ppm to me but we all know that screens don't always display colours accurately. You can see the tube, what colour does it look to you?

1-2ppm closer to 1ppm should I add a half dose?

 

[Essjay]

I would add the same amount again. 3 ppm is hard to judge accurately as it's somewhere between the 2 and 4 ppm shades.

 

[Fishyone2]

Okay, I added it and I'll check it in 30 minutes. I really appreciate your help

 

[Fishyone2]

I would add the same amount again. 3 ppm is hard to judge accurately as it's somewhere between the 2 and 4 ppm shades.

30 mins after adding second dose. I'd say it's definitely over 2ppm?

 

[Essjay]

Yes, perhaps as high as 4 ppm.

Add together the total number of drops you've just added. Then when it comes time to add the 1 ppm dose, as a bit less than one third of that number, and next time you need a 3 ppm dose, add a bit less than the total you've added today.

 

[Fishyone2]

Yes, perhaps as high as 4 ppm.

Add together the total number of drops you've just added. Then when it comes time to add the 1 ppm dose, as a bit less than one third of that number, and next time you need a 3 ppm dose, add a bit less than the total you've added today.

Okay so that's about 400 drops. I pretty much did a double dose from what I've been using. So when this ammonia drops to 0. I add ⅓ of what I added today? And then next time it drops to 0. I add a little less than the 400 drops? Sorry I know I'm a headache lol I feel like I got it backwards

 

[Essjay]

The 400 drops you added today gave a bit more than 3ppm, so I would use360 drops for a 3 ppm dose and 120 drops for a 1 ppm dose.

Going forwards from today, test every second day till you have zero ammonia, then zero ammonia again 2 days later. You must have 2 ammonia zeros 2 days apart. At that point add 120 drops.


Once you've added those 120 drops, test every day until you get ammonia under 0.25 and nitrite under 1 ppm. Both must be under those numbers.


Once you have those readings add 360 drops and test next day. If both are zero, the cycle has finished.
But if one or both are not zero, wait until ammonia is less than 0.25 AND nitrite under 1 ppm again, then add another 360 drops and test next day.
If both are zero, the cycle has finished.
If one of both are not zero, wait until ammonia is under 0.25 and nitrite under 1 ppm again then add another 360 drops and test after 24 hours.

Keep doing this until both ammonia and nitrite are zero 24 hours after adding 360 drops. It shouldn't take that long, you'll probably have two zeros the first time or perhaps after adding a second 360 drops.

 

[Fishyone2]

The 400 drops you added today gave a bit more than 3ppm, so I would use360 drops for a 3 ppm dose and 120 drops for a 1 ppm dose.

Going forwards from today, test every second day till you have zero ammonia, then zero ammonia again 2 days later. You must have 2 ammonia zeros 2 days apart. At that point add 120 drops.


Once you've added those 120 drops, test every day until you get ammonia under 0.25 and nitrite under 1 ppm. Both must be under those numbers.


Once you have those readings add 360 drops and test next day. If both are zero, the cycle has finished.
But if one or both are not zero, wait until ammonia is less than 0.25 AND nitrite under 1 ppm again, then add another 360 drops and test next day.
If both are zero, the cycle has finished.
If one of both are not zero, wait until ammonia is under 0.25 and nitrite under 1 ppm again then add another 360 drops and test after 24 hours.

Keep doing this until both ammonia and nitrite are zero 24 hours after adding 360 drops. It shouldn't take that long, you'll probably have two zeros the first time or perhaps after adding a second 360

Okay just making sure I understand. In 2 days if my ammonia is zero. Do I dose it with 400 drops and wait another 2 days for it to be 0 again then add the 120 drops and so on.

 

[Essjay]

Sorry, I didn't explain properly, this bit is tricky to explain.

You added 400 drops yesterday, that was 21st January. So test on 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th, 31st, 2 February, 4th February and so on. At the start ammonia will probably be over zero so continue testing on those dates until it is zero. Then wait till the next testing day and test again to make sure it is still zero.

Only when you've tested zero twice add the 120 drops.

 

[Fishyone2]

Sorry, I didn't explain properly, this bit is tricky to explain.

You added 400 drops yesterday, that was 21st January. So test on 23rd, 25th, 27th, 29th, 31st, 2 February, 4th February and so on. At the start ammonia will probably be over zero so continue testing on those dates until it is zero. Then wait till the next testing day and test again to make sure it is still zero.

Only when you've tested zero twice add the 120 drops.

Okay, so just wait until it hits zero and let it remain at 0 for 2 days then do the 120 drops. Say if it hits 0 tomorrow I would wait till the next day test again and make sure it's still at 0 then if it is add the 120 drops.
I'm sorry I'm just trying to make sure I understand so I'm not doing it wrong.