Thinking Of Starting A Tank Again!
- Thread starter omega59
- Start date
Thats ok, no rush though.
Good you have the test kit, you'll definitely need it for the cyclng process.
Hopefully ammonia arrives soon, I for one, hate waiting for tank stuff to be delivered
Good you have the test kit, you'll definitely need it for the cyclng process.
Hopefully ammonia arrives soon, I for one, hate waiting for tank stuff to be delivered
This is Dr Tim's Ammonia I believe, do be careful in the dosages and follow instructions on bottle exactly.
Quoted from Dr Tim's website about this ammonia:
"This bottle of reagent grade ammonium chloride is for use when fishless cycling. Concentration is 50 mg/L of total ammonia-nitrogen (TAN). Dose 1 drop per gallon of aquarium water. Use with One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria.
1 drop equals 0.05 ml so this bottle will treat 1,180 gallons."
And don't forget, if you're only planning a Betta or shrimps only set up, the bioload will be small, so would suggest you dose the tank 1ppm or 2ppm ammonia max, do test the water to check ammonia levels after dosing with ammonia.
If you overdose ammonia, you can do partial water change to reduce the ammonia level. Anything over 5ppm ammonia runs the risk of stalling the fishless cycle process, 8ppm ammonia or above will very likely crash the cycle. But this can depend on a few factors but especially if you have very soft water or low gH/kH values.
Quoted from Dr Tim's website about this ammonia:
"This bottle of reagent grade ammonium chloride is for use when fishless cycling. Concentration is 50 mg/L of total ammonia-nitrogen (TAN). Dose 1 drop per gallon of aquarium water. Use with One and Only Nitrifying Bacteria.
1 drop equals 0.05 ml so this bottle will treat 1,180 gallons."
And don't forget, if you're only planning a Betta or shrimps only set up, the bioload will be small, so would suggest you dose the tank 1ppm or 2ppm ammonia max, do test the water to check ammonia levels after dosing with ammonia.
If you overdose ammonia, you can do partial water change to reduce the ammonia level. Anything over 5ppm ammonia runs the risk of stalling the fishless cycle process, 8ppm ammonia or above will very likely crash the cycle. But this can depend on a few factors but especially if you have very soft water or low gH/kH values.
Sorry, but your readings do not make sense to me to be honest, if ammonia is being consumed by bacteria then these bacterias should be giving out nitrite, your readings say zero nitrite.
At the very least you should have 2.77ppm nitrite if 1ppm ammonia has been absorbed by ammonia bacteria and converted to nitrite.
(nitrite bacteria take longer to colonize so you may not see any result for nitrate yet)
Am not sure why you are getting these readings, think you mentioned you using API liquid test kit, are these tests being carried out following the instructions using clean vials and lids, not using you finger or thumb over the end of the vial without a cap whilst shaking the vial, and waiting at least 5 minutes before reading the result?
Human error is a major factor in inaccurate readings, this happened to me on several occassions when I first started the hobby to be honest and I shortly afterwards learned what I did wrong, I was not cleaning out the test vials properly as well as the sample of water must be taken from at least 3 inches below the surface of the tank water. The surface of tank water may contain scum or floating particles that may interfere with test results.
These tests MUST be followed correctly for them to have any value in accuracy.
And lastly, am not sure why you added ammonia when the readings showed 1ppm ammonia......
Quoted from the fishless cycle article, have highlighted in red the part that should be followed during the early stage of cycling:
"If at any time after the first ammonia addition (Dose #1) you test and ammonia is under .75 ppm and nitrite is clearly over 2 ppm, it is time to add more ammonia (Dose #2). Add the same full amount as you did the first time. Now, begin to test the ammonia and nitrite levels every other day. (You should be seeing nitrate soon if you have the kit.)"
Taking from that, you should be dosing the second dose when the ammonia is below 0.75ppm and the nitrite showing at least 2ppm.
Please follow thie article as best as you can, diverting from the advice of that article could possibly lead to a cycling crash or stall and would have to restart the process all over again.
At the very least you should have 2.77ppm nitrite if 1ppm ammonia has been absorbed by ammonia bacteria and converted to nitrite.
(nitrite bacteria take longer to colonize so you may not see any result for nitrate yet)
Am not sure why you are getting these readings, think you mentioned you using API liquid test kit, are these tests being carried out following the instructions using clean vials and lids, not using you finger or thumb over the end of the vial without a cap whilst shaking the vial, and waiting at least 5 minutes before reading the result?
Human error is a major factor in inaccurate readings, this happened to me on several occassions when I first started the hobby to be honest and I shortly afterwards learned what I did wrong, I was not cleaning out the test vials properly as well as the sample of water must be taken from at least 3 inches below the surface of the tank water. The surface of tank water may contain scum or floating particles that may interfere with test results.
These tests MUST be followed correctly for them to have any value in accuracy.
And lastly, am not sure why you added ammonia when the readings showed 1ppm ammonia......
Quoted from the fishless cycle article, have highlighted in red the part that should be followed during the early stage of cycling:
"If at any time after the first ammonia addition (Dose #1) you test and ammonia is under .75 ppm and nitrite is clearly over 2 ppm, it is time to add more ammonia (Dose #2). Add the same full amount as you did the first time. Now, begin to test the ammonia and nitrite levels every other day. (You should be seeing nitrate soon if you have the kit.)"
Taking from that, you should be dosing the second dose when the ammonia is below 0.75ppm and the nitrite showing at least 2ppm.
Please follow thie article as best as you can, diverting from the advice of that article could possibly lead to a cycling crash or stall and would have to restart the process all over again.
Not to worry, we've all made mistakes 
Just as long as you remember and learn from it, thats the main thing.
Anyhow, I don't think in your case will do too much harm to the cycling, just keep and eye on that ammonia level and check again in 48 hours.
(if the ammonia is above 4 or 5 ppm, i would advise doing a 50% water change to halve that ammonia level, bringing it back down to around 2ppm)
Just as long as you remember and learn from it, thats the main thing.
Anyhow, I don't think in your case will do too much harm to the cycling, just keep and eye on that ammonia level and check again in 48 hours.
(if the ammonia is above 4 or 5 ppm, i would advise doing a 50% water change to halve that ammonia level, bringing it back down to around 2ppm)
Here are my results. (see link pic)
Now it says to test every other day, and if the Ammonia drops below .75 add more so it's back at 2.0?
What do i do at this moment?
Ammonia 1.0
Nitrite 0
http
/i65.tinypic.com/jgh6qf.jpg
Now it says to test every other day, and if the Ammonia drops below .75 add more so it's back at 2.0?
What do i do at this moment?
Ammonia 1.0
Nitrite 0
http
/i65.tinypic.com/jgh6qf.jpg
omega59 said:
You wait
Patience in large quanitities is needed for fishless cycles.
The ammonia bacs are the first and quickest to colonise, usually less than a week. Its the NITRITE bacs that are the slowest to colonise.
You have to wait for the nitrite to peak at over 5ppm then eventually wait for it to fall to below 1ppm. You may actually need to give the bacs a 'snack' of ammonia in between the peak and fall of nitrite levels. All in all the nitrite should start to fall around the 3 or 4th week of the cycle.
They say patience is a virtue
Oh yes, you can top up the water level in the tank due to evaporation
If its just small amount of water no need to add dechlorinator. If its more than, say, 1.5 litre due to your tank being only 5 gal / 20 litre then maybe a small amount of dechlore will be on the safe side.
If its just small amount of water no need to add dechlorinator. If its more than, say, 1.5 litre due to your tank being only 5 gal / 20 litre then maybe a small amount of dechlore will be on the safe side.
Yep, thats just the very start of the cycling, just leave it for now.
What we're looking for is a reduction in ammonia and a reading of nitrite, should get some nitrite within a few days.
What we're looking for is a reduction in ammonia and a reading of nitrite, should get some nitrite within a few days.
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