Newbe trying to cycle first tank

[Tonlee]

Hi
Completely new to hobby read huge amount online ended up confusing my self. Then stumbled on this forum and cylcle tank article which sort of sunk in. I got a trigon 190l tank with black lava rock and piece of root in. I bought doc tims ammonia. I added bio balls to filter that were supplied with my filter media. I also added some api tank start. I followed doc tims instructions for dosing as found it hard to calculate 3ppm for corner tank. i added 7.5ml of ammonia to what i worked out as 154litres of water. but when i tested it after 30 mins it came out at 0ppm ammonia and between 0-0.25 nitrite tested again 24 hrs later both were zero so added another 7.5ml ammonia and tested again readings were ammonia 0.25-0.50ppm nitrate 0ppm. Ph is 7.2-7.6 cant decide with colour it more closely matches.
Is ammonia suppose to read this little have i gone wrong with my calculations? Or am i just being to impatient or got this all completely wrong.
Any advice welcome as trying to learn as much as i can. Sorry for long winded post i have trouble puttingstuff into words without waffling

 

[Willbacon23]

Hi
Completely new to hobby read huge amount online ended up confusing my self. Then stumbled on this forum and cylcle tank article which sort of sunk in. I got a trigon 190l tank with black lava rock and piece of root in. I bought doc tims ammonia. I added bio balls to filter that were supplied with my filter media. I also added some api tank start. I followed doc tims instructions for dosing as found it hard to calculate 3ppm for corner tank. i added 7.5ml of ammonia to what i worked out as 154litres of water. but when i tested it after 30 mins it came out at 0ppm ammonia and between 0-0.25 nitrite tested again 24 hrs later both were zero so added another 7.5ml ammonia and tested again readings were ammonia 0.25-0.50ppm nitrate 0ppm. Ph is 7.2-7.6 cant decide with colour it more closely matches.
Is ammonia suppose to read this little have i gone wrong with my calculations? Or am i just being to impatient or got this all completely wrong.
Any advice welcome as trying to learn as much as i can. Sorry for long winded post i have trouble puttingstuff into words without waffling

Hello hope you enjoy the Forum- starting with a 190L is a huge fun endeavour wish I could do the same! I feel you may be a tad impatient at the minute but your research and method is quite advanced! I wish you all the luck and there’s lots more knowledgeable people on this forum who will be able to help you! I just wanted to welcome you and tell you patience is a virtue

 

[FishGuest5123]

Seems awfully fast but if you are already reading nitrites, then they are eating the ammonia. As they do this, the nitrites should continue to grow. However, before we get too far, isn’t Dr. Tim’s ammonia in drops? I add 4 drops per gallon to start a cycle. This usually gets the ammonia to register to about 2ppm. When it drops to .25 or below, I add 4 more drops per gallon. Eventually you see the ammonia go down and the nitrites go up. This is the longest stage and can take several weeks. If the nitrites get really high, above about 80ppm, then do a partial water change so cycle doesn’t stall. Eventually, nitrites will drop and nitrates will show. Add a couple more drops of ammonia at this point. If the ammonia and nitrites come back at 0, and you have nitrates, then you are cycled. Do a partial water change to get nitrates at 5-10ppm and you’re ready to go.

 

[Tonlee]

Yes its drops but on site i bought it from explains how many drops equal ml. Think it was 100 drops = 5ml so 150l = 7.5ml roughly. And to add 1 drop per litre.
I was concerned as this dose was suppose to equate to 3ppm but I'm not getting any were near that when i tested.
I added 15ml ammonia in total now but its only testing between 0.25-0.50ppm.
What course of action do i do now?
Do i wait till day 3 and test again?

 

[Tonlee]

Hello hope you enjoy the Forum- starting with a 190L is a huge fun endeavour wish I could do the same! I feel you may be a tad impatient at the minute but your research and method is quite advanced! I wish you all the luck and there’s lots more knowledgeable people on this forum who will be able to help you! I just wanted to welcome you and tell you patience is a virtue

Hello hope you enjoy the Forum- starting with a 190L is a huge fun endeavour wish I could do the same! I feel you may be a tad impatient at the minute but your research and method is quite advanced! I wish you all the luck and there’s lots more knowledgeable people on this forum who will be able to help you! I just wanted to welcome you and tell you patience is a virtue

Thank you

 

[FishGuest5123]

Yes its drops but on site i bought it from explains how many drops equal ml. Think it was 100 drops = 5ml so 150l = 7.5ml roughly. And to add 1 drop per litre.
I was concerned as this dose was suppose to equate to 3ppm but I'm not getting any were near that when i tested.
I added 15ml ammonia in total now but its only testing between 0.25-0.50ppm.
What course of action do i do now?
Do i wait till day 3 and test again?

I’m crazy. So sorry for the confusion. You should use 4 drops per gallon of tank size. You want to get it to about 2-4ppm, depending what size fish and bio loads you plan to have. Slept right through that. My apologies.

 

[Essjay]

Your calculation is correct for 154 litres - how did you decide on 154 litres, do you have a lot of substrate/decor taking up a lot of the tank's 190 litres? But even if there were 190 litres water in there, you should have a higher reading than you have.


Grasping at straws - what test kit are you using? If it's the API liquid tester, you are using both bottles?

I did say I was grasping at straws......

 

[Tonlee]

Your calculation is correct for 154 litres - how did you decide on 154 litres, do you have a lot of substrate/decor taking up a lot of the tank's 190 litres? But even if there were 190 litres water in there, you should have a higher reading than you have.


Grasping at straws - what test kit are you using? If it's the API liquid tester, you are using both bottles?

I did say I was grasping at straws......

Yes its api master kit and I'm using both bottles.
I read on several sites to take around 20% off for substrate and decore. I got one 20kg bag of sand and 10kg of lava rock with med size piece of root plus the internal filter.
Do you think i should wait and retest or add more ammonia?

 

[Tonlee]

Your calculation is correct for 154 litres - how did you decide on 154 litres, do you have a lot of substrate/decor taking up a lot of the tank's 190 litres? But even if there were 190 litres water in there, you should have a higher reading than you have.


Grasping at straws - what test kit are you using? If it's the API liquid tester, you are using both bottles?

I did say I was grasping at straws......

Could it be the test kit? I got it with tank which is second hand. Test kit out of date at end of this year.

 

[FishGuest5123]

That could affect it.

 

[RowdyBub50]

I just got back into the hobby and am also working on cycle. Got a new 75G (284 liter) and I'm in the process of cycling. Got 3 Large Danio's in there now with API Quick start. I thought about trying the ammonia fishless way but seems to impersonal. No intention of letting these little guys suffer. I say go with fish cycle and take care of them well. Test, change water when needed. It's good practice.

 

[Essjay]

Could it be the test kit? I got it with tank which is second hand. Test kit out of date at end of this year.

If the tester has been opened for more than a year, that would affect it as well. Testers usually have a fairly long use by date and as it's second hand it could have been opened a lot longer than a year. Air gets into the bottle after it's been opened and the oxygen in the air makes the chemicals deteriorate.
You could always take some tank water to a fish shop and ask them to test for ammonia. That would confirm whether or not it is your tester that's gone off.




Is the tank second hand as well? If it is, more questions I'm afraid.

Was the previous owner using it right up until you collected it? Are you using the media that came with the tank? Was it still wet, or even just damp when you collected it? Did you set it up right away?
What I'm getting at is - if a tank is running up until someone buys it, there will be bacteria in the filter media. Even if it was emptied a few days before, as long as the media is not totally dry, the bacteria will still be alive. However, even if all the bacteria were alive and well it would take more than 30 minutes to remove all the ammonia you added

 

[Tonlee]

If the tester has been opened for more than a year, that would affect it as well. Testers usually have a fairly long use by date and as it's second hand it could have been opened a lot longer than a year. Air gets into the bottle after it's been opened and the oxygen in the air makes the chemicals deteriorate.
You could always take some tank water to a fish shop and ask them to test for ammonia. That would confirm whether or not it is your tester that's gone off.




Is the tank second hand as well? If it is, more questions I'm afraid.

Was the previous owner using it right up until you collected it? Are you using the media that came with the tank? Was it still wet, or even just damp when you collected it? Did you set it up right away?
What I'm getting at is - if a tank is running up until someone buys it, there will be bacteria in the filter media. Even if it was emptied a few days before, as long as the media is not totally dry, the bacteria will still be alive. However, even if all the bacteria were alive and well it would take more than 30 minutes to remove all the ammonia you added

The man i bought it from only had one goldfish in it and if i remeber correctly he said he put goldfish into garden pond this spring. Tank was completely dry when i got it filter was slighty damp but i used new sponges and filter media. I had tank about 2 weeks before i could set it up filled it on sunday and started the heater and filter as was having an op on my hand on monday and i started putting ammonia in when it arrived on Wednesday.
I am getting a new test kit for fathers day. My guess is this one been open a while as think seller had tank good few years.
I keep testing it until i get new test kit so i got a comparison but will hold back on adding any further ammonia until i get new kit.
Thank you for the help and advice so far.

 

[Tonlee]

If the tester has been opened for more than a year, that would affect it as well. Testers usually have a fairly long use by date and as it's second hand it could have been opened a lot longer than a year. Air gets into the bottle after it's been opened and the oxygen in the air makes the chemicals deteriorate.
You could always take some tank water to a fish shop and ask them to test for ammonia. That would confirm whether or not it is your tester that's gone off.




Is the tank second hand as well? If it is, more questions I'm afraid.

Was the previous owner using it right up until you collected it? Are you using the media that came with the tank? Was it still wet, or even just damp when you collected it? Did you set it up right away?
What I'm getting at is - if a tank is running up until someone buys it, there will be bacteria in the filter media. Even if it was emptied a few days before, as long as the media is not totally dry, the bacteria will still be alive. However, even if all the bacteria were alive and well it would take more than 30 minutes to remove all the ammonia you added

Hi just a update and quick question.
Got new test kit today looks like old one was a dude.
New results ph 7, ammonia 4ppm nitrite 0ppm nitrate 0ppm.

Should i just wait and test till i see a drop in ammonia and a rise in nitrite or do a partial water change to reduce the ammonia Then wait and test?

 

[FishGuest5123]

No, let it sit so nitrite will grow.