Cycling with clear ammonia...

[the_mug]

Hi, I am currently cycling my 55 Gallon freshwater aquarium with an
Aquaclear 500 and Aquaclear Powerhead 402.... I have three pieces of
driftwood and 50 lbs of substrate. I added a spoonful of Fishy Farmacy's
Clearwater Aqua Gold... which is MORE than plenty.... I added the latter
last friday and Started the tank last monday...

Phew! Now to my question.... I think I've added TOO much ammonia...
the level has been at 7ppm ever since I started it last monday... I know it
takes time but nothing has moved... Nitrite is 0ppm and pH is 7.6... any
pointers are welcome...

Cheers,

Ro

 

[Alien Anna]

Can you get any filter innards or gravel from someone else's tank?

 

[juliethegr8t]

Alien Anna is right - if you could get some established bacteria in there, that would help. Otherwise, it's probably just going to take a significant amount of time, because quite a bit of bacteria is going to have to grow in order to take care of that much ammonia! Patience is a virtue when cycling a tank, as I've learned.

 

[Alien Anna]

Live plants would help as well - something cheap like elodea would be ideal. Not only that, but if you get elodea from and established tank, it'll have bacteria on it. Plants can utilise ammonia directly.

 

[smb]

When fishless cycling and you add way too much ammonia, I've read the best thing to do is a water change. Not saying you qualify for this, but if you read it and think you do, that is what I recommend.

Too Much Ammonia?:

It IS possible to add too much ammonia to the tank (generally several times the amounts suggested in either recipe), as some individuals discovered by mistake (thanks Boozap). What happens in this case is that the ammonia will spike very far off the chart then the nitrite will spike as well (also way off the chart), and it will continue to spike for a very long time. Why? There are a couple of possibilities... the first is that the filter media and surfaces in the tank or oxygen levels are simply insufficient to grow and maintain a bacterial colony massive enough to convert all of the ammonia and all of the nitrite to nitrates. Another likely possibility is that the ammonia levels are high enough to inhibit growth (through a biofeedback mechanism) of the bacteria rather than promoting it. The solution is quite simple, however. If you realize that you've added way too much ammonia simply do a water change, or if necessary a series of water changes to bring the ammonia and/or nitrite levels back into the readable range on your test kit. Then proceed as normal with daily additions of ammonia until the tank is cycled.


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