Dan-CR4
Fishaholic
you need to know how many litres your tank is, this is so you can calculate how much ammonia to add?
for instance my tank is 180 litres and using the calcultor here my tank needs 7.58ml of ammonia that is of 9.5% solution to give me 4ppm of ammonia in my tank. if you look at the calculator you will see what im talking about.
not everyone relies on the calulator but i used it and its seen me through my cycle fine.
once you know how much ammonia you need to put in your tank to get you to 4ppm, you choose a time that is ideal for you. its that you use a time that you know that you will be at home to add the ammonia and do your tests, i chose 8pm as im always at home at that time.
TESTING FOR AMMONIA : Lets say you choose 8pm as a time to do your tests. so tonight at 8pm do an ammonia test and if its 0 then dose your tank with the amount of ammonia needed to get your tank to 4ppm, 24 hours later (8pm) do a test for ammonia, if the ammonia has gone to zero after 24 hours, you add another lot of ammonia to take your tank back upto 4ppm. if it has not gone to 0 then wait another 24 hours without adding any other ammonia. you only add ammonia at the 8pm time slot if the ammonia test is 0
TESTING FOR NITRITE once you know the ammonia is clearing within 24 hours every day, start testing your nitrite at the same time (8pm EACH DAY) now keep doing this till you are getting 0 for ammonia and 0 for nitrite every 24 hours at 8pm. Continue to add ammonia at the 8pm time slot if the ammonia is still hitting zero each day.
Once you are getting 0 for ammonia and 0 for nitrite every 24 hours start testing every 12 hours, so you would start testing at 8am and 8pm, what you hoping for is that the ammonia will be 0 and nitrite will be 0 every 12 hours. if you are getting 0 ammonia at 8am do not put any more ammonia in your tank till 12 hours later at 8pm. only dose the tank with ammonia at 8pm if it needs it.
remember to also test for ph, you need to make sure this dont drop too low. Test for nitrate every few days, this is not important too much while you are fishless cycling, once you are fully cycled you will do a big water change before adding fish and this will take care of the nitrate and bring it down.
this is the easiest way i can explain what i did, as i have said many times on this forum im no expert, two good people that have helped me are Waterdrop and Oldman47. if these 2 give you advice you know you are gonna get good advice, im not saying others also aint got good advice im just saying these are just 2 of the gents that have helped me through my cycle.
for instance my tank is 180 litres and using the calcultor here my tank needs 7.58ml of ammonia that is of 9.5% solution to give me 4ppm of ammonia in my tank. if you look at the calculator you will see what im talking about.
not everyone relies on the calulator but i used it and its seen me through my cycle fine.
once you know how much ammonia you need to put in your tank to get you to 4ppm, you choose a time that is ideal for you. its that you use a time that you know that you will be at home to add the ammonia and do your tests, i chose 8pm as im always at home at that time.
TESTING FOR AMMONIA : Lets say you choose 8pm as a time to do your tests. so tonight at 8pm do an ammonia test and if its 0 then dose your tank with the amount of ammonia needed to get your tank to 4ppm, 24 hours later (8pm) do a test for ammonia, if the ammonia has gone to zero after 24 hours, you add another lot of ammonia to take your tank back upto 4ppm. if it has not gone to 0 then wait another 24 hours without adding any other ammonia. you only add ammonia at the 8pm time slot if the ammonia test is 0
TESTING FOR NITRITE once you know the ammonia is clearing within 24 hours every day, start testing your nitrite at the same time (8pm EACH DAY) now keep doing this till you are getting 0 for ammonia and 0 for nitrite every 24 hours at 8pm. Continue to add ammonia at the 8pm time slot if the ammonia is still hitting zero each day.
Once you are getting 0 for ammonia and 0 for nitrite every 24 hours start testing every 12 hours, so you would start testing at 8am and 8pm, what you hoping for is that the ammonia will be 0 and nitrite will be 0 every 12 hours. if you are getting 0 ammonia at 8am do not put any more ammonia in your tank till 12 hours later at 8pm. only dose the tank with ammonia at 8pm if it needs it.
remember to also test for ph, you need to make sure this dont drop too low. Test for nitrate every few days, this is not important too much while you are fishless cycling, once you are fully cycled you will do a big water change before adding fish and this will take care of the nitrate and bring it down.
this is the easiest way i can explain what i did, as i have said many times on this forum im no expert, two good people that have helped me are Waterdrop and Oldman47. if these 2 give you advice you know you are gonna get good advice, im not saying others also aint got good advice im just saying these are just 2 of the gents that have helped me through my cycle.
