Do You Have To Add Ammonia Every Day When Cycling?

[mike_nofx]

Im currently in the process of a fishless cycle. 4 days in.
On the first day i added 40 drops of ammonia, bringing my ammonia to 5ppm.
2nd day, i tested before adding ammonia, it was a bit less than 5ppm, so i added another 40 drops. re-tested and it was around 5ppm.
3rd day, basically same story as 2nd day, just under 5ppm, added 40 drops, took me to around 5ppm (maybe a little more)
Now Today, (4th day) i checked before adding, it was already about 5ppm. i added 40 drops anyway, now ammonia is around 6-7-8.... My test kit shows 2ppm, 4ppm, 8ppm. So it dont show anything in between 4-8ppm so its hard to be real accurate.
I have no nitrites or nitrates.


My questions are:

I read that on the first day of cycle, you add drops until you reach 5ppm... then add that same amount every 24hrs until you get a nitrite spike, then cut back to half the drops. Is this the best way?

If i check my ammonia tomorrow, and its already 5ppm, should i still add amonia, or should i not bother as its already 5ppm?

My biological filter is ceramic noodles, does this make cycling easier or harder?

One of my filter chambers (there is 3, 2 contain ceramic noodles) has carbon in it. Is this bad for cycling, or does it not matter? I have drift wood in my tank so i left the carbon in there to keep the water clear.

Thanks

 

[Tolak]

What I did on the couple of tanks I fishless cycled long ago was keep the ammo at 5ppm. Anywhere between 4 to 6 should be fine, 8ppm may take a little longer due to the bacteria colony having to get big enough to convert that much ammonia, but I don't think it would be a real big deal. If the ammo reads 5ppm 24 hours after you added it, there is no need to add more.


Ceramic noodles will work good as a bio filter media, I have them in all of my canisters.


Carbon is good for removing chemical impurities, I don't see how it would affect your cycle. It is only good for a couple of weeks before it becomes saturated, I would run it after the tank has cycled to remove any traces of impurities that may have been in the ammonia. I rarely use carbon, only runit to remove meds, or on a new or newly cleaned setup. Others swear by it, I know people who change it out weekly.