Hi everyone,
Last week I started cycling my tank and due to my country prohibiting pure ammonia from being sold here (Australia), I wasn't sure what to do to get ammonia into my tank. I however, did have access to Ammonium Bicarbonate in powder form, so I decided to try adding some of the salt diluted with water (0.5 ml) to my fishless aquarium to get to around 1-2 ppm. From my basic chemistry knowledge I thought that this form of ammonia may be able to work and solubilize in water to become ammonia, and maybe some alkaline byproduct (which is not a problem for me right now).
It's been a week since then and I've consistently had ammonia levels at 1-2 ppm with absolutely no signs of nitrites or nitrates present. The only time my ammonia levels have seemed to drop was when I messed around with the tank and put some plants and driftwood in, but I don't attribute that to anything other than me messing with it.
I'm a little worried that this form of ammonium is not in a form suitable for these bacteria to consume it properly, and is not becoming ammonia, and that is why my nitrites have not risen at all for a week, nor has my ammonia levels fallen in a week. This doesn't explain why my API test kit is reading ammonia, but maybe there is ammonia in the water, but not in the right form.
I know this is a patient process but it is my first tank and I'm not entirely sure how long this stuff takes normally. This is just normal for ammonia levels not to drop in a week but I'm worried I'm going to be waiting weeks just for me to find out that this ammonia source was a waste of time in the first place. I'm not sure if this is normal waiting for nitrites to rise, or if there is something going on with the ammonium bicarbonate. I'm not sure if I should simply start over and try and find a different ammonia source (fish food was taking way too long + messy), which I really will be sad to do.
Thank you!
Last week I started cycling my tank and due to my country prohibiting pure ammonia from being sold here (Australia), I wasn't sure what to do to get ammonia into my tank. I however, did have access to Ammonium Bicarbonate in powder form, so I decided to try adding some of the salt diluted with water (0.5 ml) to my fishless aquarium to get to around 1-2 ppm. From my basic chemistry knowledge I thought that this form of ammonia may be able to work and solubilize in water to become ammonia, and maybe some alkaline byproduct (which is not a problem for me right now).
It's been a week since then and I've consistently had ammonia levels at 1-2 ppm with absolutely no signs of nitrites or nitrates present. The only time my ammonia levels have seemed to drop was when I messed around with the tank and put some plants and driftwood in, but I don't attribute that to anything other than me messing with it.
I'm a little worried that this form of ammonium is not in a form suitable for these bacteria to consume it properly, and is not becoming ammonia, and that is why my nitrites have not risen at all for a week, nor has my ammonia levels fallen in a week. This doesn't explain why my API test kit is reading ammonia, but maybe there is ammonia in the water, but not in the right form.
I know this is a patient process but it is my first tank and I'm not entirely sure how long this stuff takes normally. This is just normal for ammonia levels not to drop in a week but I'm worried I'm going to be waiting weeks just for me to find out that this ammonia source was a waste of time in the first place. I'm not sure if this is normal waiting for nitrites to rise, or if there is something going on with the ammonium bicarbonate. I'm not sure if I should simply start over and try and find a different ammonia source (fish food was taking way too long + messy), which I really will be sad to do.
Thank you!
