Fish Less Cycle

[SteM]

So started my fish less cycle, the tank has been running for 3 weeks now but could only buy a test kit Friday, ph was 7 ammonia was 0.5 ppm and both nitrate and nitrite wer at 0, am I heading in the right direction??

 

[Aquascaper]

How much ammonia are you adding and how frequently?

 

[doresy]

If your ammonia is at 5 ppm that's spot on so turn the heat up to 30* and sit back and wait....

HOWEVER.....if as you have stated your ammonia level is at 0.5 ppm you need to add more ammonia (using the calculator at the top of this page) to bring the level up to 4-5ppm.

I am assuming you are actually adding ammonia solution?

 

[SteM]

No I haven't added any ammonia I haven't got any I must get some of that next

 

[Aquascaper]

Then you haven't started your cycle properly yet

 

[doresy]

No I haven't added any ammonia I haven't got any I must get some of that next

Ahh as I suspected. You need to get some ammonia solution from somewhere like Homebase in the household cleaning department.

If you are unsure what to get this is good

If you find some from a different source and are unsure then give it a shake and if it froths up then it's no good. Also on no account give it a sniff....you will get a serious 'brain freeze'!!!

Use the calculator to assess how much to use for your size tank and read the fish-less cycling article pinned in these forums

 

[Aquascaper]

Amazon sell Kleen-Off....a 9.5% solution

 

[SteM]

I'm away from home during the week due to college, and I know during cycling it says to test daily, would it make any difference if I was to test every weekend? If I was to bring it to 5ppm Friday then when I'm back up the following Friday test again? And top it back up

 

[Aquascaper]

You could do as you suggest for the first few days/week as it will take a while for the bacteria to develop enough to process that amount but thereafter you need to 'feed' the tank daily otherwise the bacteria will starve and die off.

 

[SteM]

You could do as you suggest for the first few days/week as it will take a while for the bacteria to develop enough to process that amount but thereafter you need to 'feed' the tank daily otherwise the bacteria will starve and die off.

Cheers mate that's fine, I've only another 7 weeks in college anyway so I should be ok