Further Advice Pls

[panther4]

set up my first tank cleaned with just water filled as required with ro water added ammonia got first test after 24hrs ammonia at 4ppm according to api test master kit water starting to cloud up is this normal ?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

set up my first tank cleaned with just water filled as required with ro water added ammonia got first test after 24hrs ammonia at 4ppm according to api test master kit water starting to cloud up is this normal ?

Yep...'bacterial blooms' are very common and are experienced in the vast majority of tanks going through a fishless cycle. It will clear after 2/3 days, post back if it doesn't.
Also, BIG for choosing to do a fishless cycle..keep us updated with your water test results.

Terry.

 

[KittyKat]

set up my first tank cleaned with just water filled as required with ro water added ammonia got first test after 24hrs ammonia at 4ppm according to api test master kit water starting to cloud up is this normal ?

Yes, bacterial blooms are normal.

Are you adding minerals back in some way? If not, then you need to as the bacteria (and later, fish) need them.

Just out of curiosity, why are you using RO water?

 

[panther4]

day 6 of cycle just tested ammonia at 0.25 topped back up to 2ppm nitrite about 5ppm nitrate over 80 ppm should i do a pwc to bring nitrate back down or leave till nitrite is 0

 

[Xraymark]

Nitrates are not that high. You only really do a water change if your ph drops which can be caused by high nitrates.

You would be better testing your ph regularly and just ignore the nitrates for the moment.

 

[KittyKat]

One method that *from what I have observed* decreases the likelyhood of problems in the cycle is waiting until both ammonia and nitrite drop to 0 ppm before redosing ammonia. This method allows one to monitor nitrite at all times, as normally (when adding more ammonia as soon as it reaches 0 ppm), nitrite can go quite high and the test kits usually are not able to test for much over 5 ppm.

 

[OldMan47]

Welcome to the forum panther.
I suggest at you stop using RO water. I am well aware that it is pure water but that is the problem. Pure water has no mineral content to hold your pH constant. As soon as you start to process either ammonia to nitrite or nitrite to nitrate, you will see a drop in pH that will stall your cycle. Instead you should use at least partial tap water in your mix. If you have the liquid rock that I have, maybe you want to dilute your tap by 1/2 or even by 2/3. You do not want to have straight RO in your tank though.
Fish cannot live in that water and a cycle will almost always stall when started that way. In order for fish to regulate their water content, they must urinate constantly but in very pure water they can almost never urinate enough to reduce their water content to acceptable levels. (Think about how your finger tips look after being immersed in water for a few minutes. The weird puffiness we associate with that situation is because our own bodies are not able to remove the water absorbed through our own skin.) The fish rely, as do all living creatures, even man, on differences to drive their biological processes. That means that they must somehow separate and remove water and to do so must be able to establish a difference between the fish's blood stream chemistry and the water that surrounds that fish. Even in the best of times, that is a tall order in fresh water, but when presented with an environment of pure water it is more than most fish can overcome. Instead the fish will die a slow death from absorbing water that they simply cannot get rid of.