FC Ammonia Reading

[StarOrbs]

Fishless cycling for my 55 gallon seems to be on track and I'm adding ammonia everyday and my nitrites are probally spiked now and nitrates have been going up the past couple days and I'm just wondering if I should reduce the ammount ammonia I'm putting in. My ammonia reading is above 5ppm and you can see my other readings in my sig. I started off with 5 tsp but then I reduced it to 1 tsp for a couple days because it was way off the chart which is what it has been now I've been adding around 2-3 tsp everyday.

 

[catfishfan]

some people do it differently but I believe you shouldnt cut back on the ammonia until the nitrite levels spike. once that happens , cut the amount you were putting in by about half. That will keep the bacteria going and once your nitrites go down and your nitrates spike , quit adding ammonia and do a hmmmmm 60-70 maybe even 80% water change. thats worked for me several times in the past very well.

 

[StarOrbs]

Well all my readings are now at the end of the chart. My ammonia is >5 ppm, my nitrite is > 3.3 ppm, and my nitrate is now at 100 or somewhere near it anyway. Now I suppose I got to wait for the ammonia and nitrite to get to 0 then do a water change.