Ask Questions About Cycling

[Wells]

Yea they were very high, did a 75% water change, and was still getting massive readings so did a 90%WC and now clearing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite within 48 hours of 2ppm doage so getting close now at least.

 

[dovehumphrey]

Hi. These were all very informative for me, I'm new here.

 

[gavin66]

Bit of a noddy question, but a complete newbie & would appreciate some help.

Just started cycling my tank and using Dr Tims ammonia. What strength is Dr Tims, is it 40%?

I have just tested my water and trying to use a calculator (can anyone recommend one?) to see how much I need to add.

Currently have a ammonia reading of 1 in a 40L. I assume I didn't put in enough last night.

 

[kwi]

Not sure what strength Dr Tims is but the dosing rate on the bottle takes you to 2ppm so add 1/2 again if you are following the sites cycling guide. IIRC the bottle tells you how big a drop is so you can work out an actual amount rather than counting drops.

Bit of a noddy question, but a complete newbie & would appreciate some help.

Just started cycling my tank and using Dr Tims ammonia. What strength is Dr Tims, is it 40%?

I have just tested my water and trying to use a calculator (can anyone recommend one?) to see how much I need to add.

Currently have a ammonia reading of 1 in a 40L. I assume I didn't put in enough last night.

 

[Essjay]

Dr Tim's ammonia is ammonium chloride so calculators for working out how much to add don't work.

The bottle should say how many drops per gallon to add - that's the number of drops per 3.76 litres. But some members have found this gives too high a reading, so I would add half the amount they say, let it mix in for half an hour then test. If it's below 3 ppm, add some more - but count the total number of drops as you need to know how many drops give a reading of 3 ppm.

Currently have a ammonia reading of 1 in a 40L. I assume I didn't put in enough last night.

If the number of drops you added gave a reading of 1 ppm, you need to add twice as much as you've already added to get 3 ppm.

Ignore what it says about 2 ppm, the method on here advises 3 ppm. In case you haven't found it, this is the method we recommend

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

 

[gavin66]

Dr Tim's ammonia is ammonium chloride so calculators for working out how much to add don't work.

The bottle should say how many drops per gallon to add - that's the number of drops per 3.76 litres. But some members have found this gives too high a reading, so I would add half the amount they say, let it mix in for half an hour then test. If it's below 3 ppm, add some more - but count the total number of drops as you need to know how many drops give a reading of 3 ppm.


If the number of drops you added gave a reading of 1 ppm, you need to add twice as much as you've already added to get 3 ppm.

Ignore what it says about 2 ppm, the method on here advises 3 ppm. In case you haven't found it, this is the method we recommend

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

Brillaint, many thanks for that.

Initially used a calculator for ammonia, not knowing how many drops that was, but I will just have to play around with it to see where it is.

I've got that article which I have found very helpful, and keep using it to refer to.

Only other thing that is catching me out is comparing the KH & GH as it doesn't have a colour scale on the back of the NT Labs pack. GH was dark purple, whatever that means!

 

[Essjay]

The GH and KH testers don't have a colour scale, that's not how they work. You add drops one at a time until the colour changes.

For KH, one drop should turn the water blue. Drops are added one at a time, shaking after every drop, until the colour turns yellow. The number of drops it takes for the colour to change is the KH is dH. If it goes yellow when the first drop is added, the KH is less than 1 dH.

For GH, add 2 drops of bottle A and shake. It should turn pink. Add bottle B one drop at a time shaking after every drop until the colour changes from pink to blue. The number of drops that takes = GH in dH. If it goes blue at the first drop of bottle B, the GH is less than 1 dH.

 

[ashishkumarji]

Good job. Will be more than happy to help with the 'pretty' side of things if one desires. vidmate mobdro

 

[Barry Tetra]

Are saltwater and freshwater nitrifying bacteria the same?

I’ve seen a bunch of people saying that Nitrosomonas and Nitrobacter aren’t the one that cycle in sw tank.

 

[noobfish]

Hello. New guy here (new to ALL of it). Not sure if this is the right place for this, so my apologies if I should be asking in a different thread. This is for a fish in cycle. I'm now 7 weeks in and don't seem to be making any progress. Ammonia and nitrite have yet to zero out. Last test using API Mastertest, ammonia was 2ppm and nitrite was 5+ppm (nitrate was 0). On a side note, I have a Seachem ammonia alert in the tank and it always reads safe, so apparently it doesn't work very well for an "alarm".
I started by adding Seachem Stability per instructions for 7 days. Ran into an issue in week 3 with DT's having mouth rot, so had to treat with Kanaplex for a week. I'm sure that killed off any bacteria that may have established, so did a 90% water change and ran a fresh activated filter for a week. After that I replaced the filter (put the original back in that was removed prior to treatment) and ran the Stability for 7 days. I have been doing 75% water changes weekly and adding a dose of Pristine after each. Levels go down with each water change of course, but are back up in 2-3 days. About the only thing I've succeeded in growing is orange algae all over gravel/plants/tank sides!
Am I missing something here? I guess I know I am, just not sure what. Do I just need to wait longer? Any and all advice is much appreciated!

 

[Naughts]

Hello. New guy here (new to ALL of it). Not sure if this is the right place for this, so my apologies if I should be asking in a different thread. This is for a fish in cycle. I'm now 7 weeks in and don't seem to be making any progress. Ammonia and nitrite have yet to zero out. Last test using API Mastertest, ammonia was 2ppm and nitrite was 5+ppm (nitrate was 0). On a side note, I have a Seachem ammonia alert in the tank and it always reads safe, so apparently it doesn't work very well for an "alarm".
I started by adding Seachem Stability per instructions for 7 days. Ran into an issue in week 3 with DT's having mouth rot, so had to treat with Kanaplex for a week. I'm sure that killed off any bacteria that may have established, so did a 90% water change and ran a fresh activated filter for a week. After that I replaced the filter (put the original back in that was removed prior to treatment) and ran the Stability for 7 days. I have been doing 75% water changes weekly and adding a dose of Pristine after each. Levels go down with each water change of course, but are back up in 2-3 days. About the only thing I've succeeded in growing is orange algae all over gravel/plants/tank sides!
Am I missing something here? I guess I know I am, just not sure what. Do I just need to wait longer? Any and all advice is much appreciated!

I think you are right that the Kanaplex will have set you back as the bacteria would not have been established.

Test the water daily and change 75% any (every) day that ammonia and nitrite are not zero. The priority is keeping the fish safe and the cycle has to be secondary. It will cycle, maybe as soon as in a couple of weeks, maybe somewhat longer. But if you leave the fish in these conditions they will be seriously weakened as the levels are potentially fatal, particularly so if the pH is basic.

If you haven't already, add live plants, particularly floating plants, as they use ammonia. Don't change the filter or the filter media for the next month. Don't clean the filter for the next month.

Start a new thread for the algae issue as people may be able to offer advice.

 

[Byron]

This was posted in an old thread, but as I saw it and noticed something, I will mention it. I had to track down what "Pristine" is as I had not come across this previously. This seems to be another of those "magic" additives similar to API's Stress Zyme. Don't use either, they are not necessary, they most likely interfere with "nature," and clogging up the fishes' gills with unnecessary compounds only makes the stress on the fish worse.

Follow the previous post advice. And welcome to TFF.

 

[BlazerBuddy]

I read somewhere that live plants can do the cycling process for you, is that true?

 

[Essjay]

Yes.

Planted/silent cycling

So ya got yourself a fish tank, and now you're wondering how to cycle it. You have a few options: 1) Fishless cycle: Set up your substrate and filter (decorations and plants are optional), buy pure ammonia, add enough to your tank to read 3ppm, wait. Full instructions here...

www.fishforums.net

 

[cascades4vrbo]

This is an open thread to ask questions about cycling.

I have a seasoned Filter sitting in Tank Water. Is there a way to preserve the filter?