First 4 Ppm Of Ammonia Wont Go !

[paulyoung666]

Been a week now and it hasnt gone down at all , temp is at 30 deg c , water was dechlorinated with KingBritish Safeguard , just nothing happening .....

 

[Lufbramatt]

Took about 12 days for mine to do anything. Fishless cycling is all about being patient.

 

[paulyoung666]

Thanks for the info , would ammonia test strips be ok to use as I don't want to waste my API kit if I don't have to ....

 

[BETTY BOO]

the strips may not be giving you a correct reading as there not that good.i would use the api kit instead

 

[littlenemo]

the strips are not very good the give false readings. also the first drop takes a while mine took 2 weeks at first

 

[Tizer]

you wont be wasting it, because once your tank is cycled, you wont be testing the water much anyway. I think i last tested my tank water about 3 months ago....

So the test kit is best used while cycling anyway

 

[BigbruiserAl]

Strips are usefull and can be saver, when a tank is new sub six months or during a cycle you want a accurate ppm hence using the Api kit. It good practice to test your tank water even with mature tanks and strips are perfect to gauge the status

 

[JDs4me]

I had no movement after 10 days; local LFS gave me 2 litres of subgravel gunk which went in; first drop occured 2 days later - so 12 days for me...you aren't far off hopefully!

You will get plenty of really useful advice on this site...good luck!

 

[paulyoung666]

Cheers all , will keep testing !!!

 

[waterdrop]

Agree with the others. For years we've had fishless cyclers whose fishless cycle has been slow to start - just sits there and they feel awful that nothing is happening. Don't worry, nearly all the time those seemingly un-moving ones will just suddenly take off and you'll know that the process is going to go.

I also agree with the others, might as well just use your liquid kits during fishless cycling as you use them less later and ultimately they often expire and are too old to trust prior to the reagents being used up.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Joshwainwright]

Being patient and sticking with it will pay off!, I promise

 

[paulyoung666]

cheers all for the encouragement , just been talking to a lad at work and he has an all pond solutions 2000 l/h external filter which he only wants £20 for with media , distinctly tempted to get it off him , even if just to get rid of the ugly lump of internal filter i have !! , just noticed tonight that i have some strange sort of what i can only describe as circular blooms happening on the inside of the glass , what is this ?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

cheers all for the encouragement , just been talking to a lad at work and he has an all pond solutions 2000 l/h external filter which he only wants £20 for with media , distinctly tempted to get it off him , even if just to get rid of the ugly lump of internal filter i have !! , just noticed tonight that i have some strange sort of what i can only describe as circular blooms happening on the inside of the glass , what is this ?

Hi, depends what size tank you have i guess..but as you are thinking of a pretty strong filter then i can only presume your tank is 8-0-100 litres plus ? It looks a fantastic deal, but what has been used in, and for how long?
If it works for you, you are quids in my friend..a decent, fresh mature media donation really will get you where you are wanting to go, so for giving it a go.
As was mentioned above by the other, patience really is the key... 3/4 weeks work now can very possibly save you weeks of work in the future.

Terry.

 

[paulyoung666]

cheers all for the encouragement , just been talking to a lad at work and he has an all pond solutions 2000 l/h external filter which he only wants £20 for with media , distinctly tempted to get it off him , even if just to get rid of the ugly lump of internal filter i have !! , just noticed tonight that i have some strange sort of what i can only describe as circular blooms happening on the inside of the glass , what is this ?

Hi, depends what size tank you have i guess..but as you are thinking of a pretty strong filter then i can only presume your tank is 8-0-100 litres plus ? It looks a fantastic deal, but what has been used in, and for how long?
If it works for you, you are quids in my friend..a decent, fresh mature media donation really will get you where you are wanting to go, so for giving it a go.
As was mentioned above by the other, patience really is the key... 3/4 weeks work now can very possibly save you weeks of work in the future.

Terry.

200 litres i have , it has been used for turtles so i dont know if the media will be any good but i believe it has been dry a while so there would be no initial benefit to me , i could however use the media from the filter that i am using now , i reckon it will be worth it just to get rid of the ugly lump in the corner .....

 

[BigbruiserAl]

The aps 2000 flows approx 900lph so will give a turn over of 4 and a bit which is nice flow