7 Days Into Fishless Cycling - First Test Results

[Kalist]

Ok 7 days in, water is still very cloudy and I just picked up some test kits and have my first results:

Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
NitrAte 5.0 ppm



So if I'm following that pinned thread right, I need to go pickup some ammonia from walmart to add to the tank to bring it up to 4-5ppm then check it in a week and raise it back up to 4-5ppm.

Is there any point in adding more of the beneficial bacteria from the 'cycle' bottle I bought at the lfs? Would that just make the water cloudier? When will this cloudiness go away!?

Thanks!

 

[doresy]

Hi, the ammonia reading is just from the 'Cycle' solution so yes you need to go to your local DIY store and get some Pure Ammonia solution. (It should not foam up when shaken, oh and don't sniff it )

BTW, the so-called benificial bacteria 'cycle' solution is next to usless, it won't do any harm to use it but it won't help much either.
Follow the pinned fishless cycle thread from this forum and you won't go far wrong

*edit* the cloudiness could be bacterial bloom but I doubt it as the bacteria in that solution is most probably dead anyway. Could it be from your substrate (ie did you rinse it thoroughly before putting it in the tank?) Was this cloudiness there from the start. It will clear....eventually

 

[Kalist]

Hi, the ammonia reading is just from the 'Cycle' solution so yes you need to go to your local DIY store and get some Pure Ammonia solution. (It should not foam up when shaken, oh and don't sniff it )

BTW, the so-called benificial bacteria 'cycle' solution is next to usless, it won't do any harm to use it but it won't help much either.
Follow the pinned fishless cycle thread from this forum and you won't go far wrong

*edit* the cloudiness could be bacterial bloom but I doubt it as the bacteria in that solution is most probably dead anyway. Could it be from your substrate (ie did you rinse it thoroughly before putting it in the tank?) Was this cloudiness there from the start. It will clear....eventually

I got some ammonia from the store (yellow in colour, and does foam when shaken). I thought I read that foaming is good... also it doesn't list ingredients, quite infuriating. It's just called "household ammonia". I added a little of it to the aquarium just recently and will do a test in a few hours time. The substrate was thoroughly rinsed before going in (the substrate from my other aquarium was transfered directly) and the water was clear for the first day it was in. (It went cloudy over-night).

Thanks for your reply!

 

[Kalist]

OMG I just reread the pinned thread and it says foaming WONT work. Did I just ruin my tank? I put in about three capfulls of this crap that the store sells. I went to 4 freaking grocery stores looking for it and this was the best they had. I hate cycling.

 

[OldMan47]

Sorry to end up saying this Kalist. I would clean the tank and start again. It sounds like you have put detergents into the tank and that can ruin the whole process. I found it quite difficult to find ammonia without any detergents and without any scents added but it can be done. Your best bet in the US is Ace Hardware for the pure ammonia. It comes in a generic seeming bottle and is called "Clear Ammonia". It will be with cleaning products or janitorial supplies. When looking for ammonia in Walmart, Lowes and Menards, all I found was scented and with detergents.

 

[Kalist]

Sorry to end up saying this Kalist. I would clean the tank and start again. It sounds like you have put detergents into the tank and that can ruin the whole process. I found it quite difficult to find ammonia without any detergents and without any scents added but it can be done. Your best bet in the US is Ace Hardware for the pure ammonia. It comes in a generic seeming bottle and is called "Clear Ammonia". It will be with cleaning products or janitorial supplies. When looking for ammonia in Walmart, Lowes and Menards, all I found was scented and with detergents.

I'm in Canada and looked at Wal-mart, London Drugs, Safeway, and Sobeys. Unfortunately they DO NOT have to list the contents of cleaning supplies! Stupid! So this thing is just called "AMMONIA" but it clearly is not pure ammonia.

Anyway, I checked my ammonia levels 1 hour after adding it and it was at 3.5 ppm. I checked it a day later and it was at .25 ppm.

I've done about 1 10% water change every day in an attempt to get rid of this cloudiness too.

If the ammonia keeps going down will the tank be ok?

Thanks for your reply.

 

[OldMan47]

You are physically removing ammonia with the water changes. The ammonia action is not the real point, fish cannot live in soapy or detergent contaminated water. At the very least, you should drian the tank completely and refill with dechlorinated water. If you then have some clear ammonia, without scents or detergents, you can resume trying to cycle the tank. There may actually be some live bacteria in the filter that will carry over to good water and real pure ammonia. There is nothing here either to require ingredients on cleaning products which is why we recommend the shake test. Beware, the cap may not prevent a bit of the liquid leaking out when shaken, mine does leak.

 

[doresy]

Sorry to hear that you missed following my advice in the first reply about foaming ammonia

In the UK we can obtain pure ammonia solution from the big DIY chain-store (Homebase) in the house-hold dept.

As suggested by others, yes you will get a cycle happening as what you have is still ammonia it's just that detergents and perfumes are a big no-no to all marine life