I Need Some Help With Fishless Cycle Ammonia Dose

[gforce17]

Will I be told??!!

 

[pdludbrooke]

high nitrates is something people believe could stall a cycle or cause it to take longer. So you don't have to do a water change, it will cycle, but sometimes it can help.

Chose not to do water change. Two weeks on and nitrites still very high. Ammonia being cleared in 12 hours. Should I do a water change now?

As I understand it now, you don't need to do any water change untill the nitrites effect your PH.

 

[JDs4me]

I have read here that doing water changes to keep NO2 and NO3 levels down is not a problem...you need to focus on what is going on in the filter rather than the water. I have been doing daily water changes since the ammonia started to clear in 12 hours..it still does. Also by doing the water changes I can closely monitor the NO2 levels which are now dropping over a period of 16-24 hours, about four weeks into the cycle. So NH3 and NO2 are reducing; I therefore assume I have my filter populated. I am now, again on advice given here, dosing my NH3 to about 3ppm daily and watching for the NO2 bacs build up to improve to a 12 hour NO2 clearance. Keep adding NH3 for a few days to check for stability; the tank is then cycled...thats my reading of it anyway, based on the advice given by several different comparative old hands!

So if you want to water change, there is nothing wrong with doing so; advantages also there in that there are no huge spikes, and your pH remains more stable around tap parameters...if I'm wrong I'm sure someone will clarify!

Good luck!