Fishless Cycling

[winterpeg]

I started my fishless cycling today, after read a few things it was suggested to use 1 oz of ammonia for very 5 gallons. Since my tank is only 5 gallon I put in 1oz. I just tested the water to see where I was sitting and with my API test kit the water turned blue. I am guessing I put in to much ammonia.

Should I do anything or just let the tank do its thing and break down the ammonia.

 

[TrainRek77]

Test it again I think. Sometimes test results are inaccurate. Test it after it has sat for a while. If it is still inconclusive then I would change out maybe half the water, wait a while, and test again. You want to see around 4-5 ppm.

 

[pdludbrooke]

I started my fishless cycling today, after read a few things it was suggested to use 1 oz of ammonia for very 5 gallons. Since my tank is only 5 gallon I put in 1oz. I just tested the water to see where I was sitting and with my API test kit the water turned blue. I am guessing I put in to much ammonia.

Should I do anything or just let the tank do its thing and break down the ammonia.

1oz of ammonia per gallon sounds ver extreme (VERY) I have a 100 litre (about 25 gallons) I used 4ml of household ammonia (10% ammonia)

 

[CezzaXV]

If you look at the top of ny forum page there should be a link that says calculator. Scroll to the bottom and there's a bit to tell you how much ammonia to use for any tank size you type in.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Wuh oh, yep use the calculator. you'll want to dose up to 5ppm on the first dose and when it goes back to 0 just take it up to 2-3ppm after that. Too much ammonia just slows everything down so swap some water out and test again

 

[winterpeg]

Just checked and it was 1ml of ammonia. I will have to check it again and maybe do a water change to get the level down.

 

[winterpeg]

Thanks to everyone's advice my tank is starting to cycle, after the first dose of ammonia and a few days the ammonia has dropped down to zero and there is a good amount of nitrites in the tank. I just added some more ammonia so now I wait again. I have read through the fishless cycle in the beginners section and nead clarification on one thing. Is the goal to have the ammonia and nitrites to drop back to zero within 12 hrs, once this happens then it is safe to add fish.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Brilliant news winterpeg! I bet you had a nice kickstart because you previously had fish in the tank, I bet you are going to cycle in no time

Yes the end goal is for ammonia and nitrite to go to 0 in 12 hours. Some people say have a full week or two weeks after this to make sure but I just did 2 or 3 days and never had a spike after adding fish.