New to this Hoby Fishless cycling getting really

[James Reid]

Hi obviously new to this hobby because my question is about fishless cycle

First of all I have checked my water hardness area and the best that I come up with is a medium hardness..My water company Seven trent in England lists no where where on its web site the exact hardness of water hardness.. but a medium test from a aqua site on the web that stated my Postcode was Medium
I have a 123 lt Fluvsl tank which according to the calculations holds 20 gallons 1 drop of ammonia per gallon 20 drops

Listed below are my recorded measures taken over the period I am I believe on day 9 and I just want advice.. do I just sit on my hands or do I need to do something

Date

Ammonia Test

Nitrite Test

Nitrate Test

PH Test

Added ammonia after testing *

Ammonia using is Dr Tim's ammonia

19,4,20

0.50 ppm

1.ppm

did not test

did not test

* 20 drops

21,4,20

0.25ppm

1.ppm

did not test

did not test

* 20 drops

23,4,20

0.25ppm

2.ppm

20/40ppm

7.6

* 20 drops

27,4,20	0ppm	2.ppm	80 ppm	7.6

I have to point out I am very confused but can't even tell where I am at, and I'm kind of hoping it's going the right way. But to be honest I can't tell

 

[PheonixKingZ]

@Colin_T should be able to help you.

 

[Essjay]

First thing - type your postcode in the box half way down this page and click check my water.

Check my water quality | Water Quality | My Supply | Severn Trent Water

Find out more about your water, what's in it and even dishwasher settings by searching with your postcode.

www.stwater.co.uk

You need the number in the line 'hardness German'. That is your hardness in dH, and there is a calculator on the forum to convert it to ppm. Some fish profiles use one unit, some use the other which is why you need to know your hardness in both.


Have you found the fishless cycling method on here? https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
You'll see that it says to add enough ammonia to get a reading of 3 ppm, which will grow more bacteria than is needed by a sensibly stocked tank of fish.
Looking on Dr Tim's website there is a comment that they changed the concentration of the ammonium chloride solution in 2016 so instead of 1 drop per gallon, it now needs 4 drops per gallon. And 123 litres is 32.5 gallon, not 20. To get 3 ppm ammonia you need 130 drops. [3 ppm is 6 times 0.5 ppm (your reading), and 130 drops is roughly 6 times 20 drops]

What I would do now is to add 130 drops, wait half an hour to let it all mix in then check the ammonia reading. If it's 3 ppm, count today as the start and follow the instruction in the link. Ammonia is only added when certain targets have been reached. This is because too much ammonia makes so much nitrite it stalls the cycle.

 

[Essjay]

I have just noticed your location - your hardness is 12.71 dH and 228 ppm

 

[James Reid]

First thing - type your postcode in the box half way down this page and click check my water.

Check my water quality | Water Quality | My Supply | Severn Trent Water

Find out more about your water, what's in it and even dishwasher settings by searching with your postcode.

www.stwater.co.uk

You need the number in the line 'hardness German'. That is your hardness in dH, and there is a calculator on the forum to convert it to ppm. Some fish profiles use one unit, some use the other which is why you need to know your hardness in both.


Have you found the fishless cycling method on here? https://www.fishforums.net/threads/cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first.421488/
You'll see that it says to add enough ammonia to get a reading of 3 ppm, which will grow more bacteria than is needed by a sensibly stocked tank of fish.
Looking on Dr Tim's website there is a comment that they changed the concentration of the ammonium chloride solution in 2016 so instead of 1 drop per gallon, it now needs 4 drops per gallon. And 123 litres is 32.5 gallon, not 20. To get 3 ppm ammonia you need 130 drops. [3 ppm is 6 times 0.5 ppm (your reading), and 130 drops is roughly 6 times 20 drops]

What I would do now is to add 130 drops, wait half an hour to let it all mix in then check the ammonia reading. If it's 3 ppm, count today as the start and follow the instruction in the link. Ammonia is only added when certain targets have been reached. This is because too much ammonia makes so much nitrite it stalls the cycle.

Hi and Thankyou I have added the recommended ammonia drops
So now I have a bench mark of 3ppm on my api test kit
So now i begin the process again thankyou. I will keep you informed if I get lost again

 

[Colin_T]

When did you actually start the cycling process?
Your chart has 19 April 2020 as the first date but has the tank been running longer than that?

I would be careful about adding too much ammonia because you already have a nitrite reading and that suggests the first lot of beneficial filter bacteria have established.​

The fact you have nitrite would suggest you are about half way through the cycling process.

------------------
Don't worry about testing for nitrates just yet because the nitrate test kit will read nitrite as nitrate and give you a false reading. Wait until the nitrite has gone up and come back down to 0, then start testing for nitrates.