Why No Amonia?

[miniman]

Ok - I knew this wouldnt be simple

I have an 84 l (18uk gals) tank running an eheim ecco 2232 filter and I have tried to start fishless cycling! I have added 12 drops of houshold amonia (9.5 W/W) and my test are showing nothing for amonia (or about .5 at best!)

I'm confued - i dont want to keep adding too much amonia - I put in 6 and now another 6 and i thought this would be more than enough.

SO before I put in another 6-12 have i done something wrong. I have not put the carbon pad in the filter - it just has the fine sponge, course sponge and SUBSTRATPRO - none of these should be absorbing the amonia should it?

help

 

[mark.w.jones]

Ok - I knew this wouldnt be simple

I have an 84 l (18uk gals) tank running an eheim ecco 2232 filter and I have tried to start fishless cycling! I have added 12 drops of houshold amonia (9.5 W/W) and my test are showing nothing for amonia (or about .5 at best!)

I'm confued - i dont want to keep adding too much amonia - I put in 6 and now another 6 and i thought this would be more than enough.

SO before I put in another 6-12 have i done something wrong. I have not put the carbon pad in the filter - it just has the fine sponge, course sponge and SUBSTRATPRO - none of these should be absorbing the amonia should it?

help

Did you dechlorinate your water when you added it?
Have you got plants? These will slow the cycle process down.
Have you raised the temperature to 85 - 90?

If you are good for all of these things then you are not adding enough ammonia sol. Get a bucket. Add 10l of dechlorinated water. Count how many drops you need to raise the ammonia level in the bucket to 5ppm. Then divide your tank capacity in litres by 10 and then multiply by the number of drops you added to the bucket. The result is how many drops you will need to raise the level to 5ppm in your tank, give or take a few drops. All the best

 

[miniman]

dechlorinate water - CHECK
Have you got plants? - OOPS NAUGHTY JAVA FERN
Have you raised the temperature to 85 - 90? ITS GETTING THERE

I think im pretty much there now but it took 56 drops to bring it up to about 5! Whcih seems a lot for a small tank - perhaps the ammonia is just not that strong. Now i will sit back and wait...

shame the fern will slow things down but atleast I have something to look at duirng the wait!

 

[thegnu]

have you added a dechlorinator that locks the ammonia up, or is you water so soft that is having an effect. try adding 8 flakes of fish food, test in the morning for ammonia. i used fish food for my ammonia

 

[miniman]

I used Aqua Plus which I dont think takes out ammonia? (perhaps someone could advise!)

I have added some food aswell and I'll test in the morning. I take it 60 drops is more than most people use to get the 5-6ppm?

I put in lots of Cycle this morning as it came free with the tank - but this shouldnt eat the ammonia should it?

 

[Irf]

No I don't think the Cycle will affect the ammonialevel.

I doesn't matter what other people have had to add. I've just done it myself on my cichlid tank. You can't go by the side of the bottle either very much, because the ammonia is a bit volatile and you start to lose it as soon as you open the bottle.

As you've done, use your own measurements and then stick to the fishless cycling sticky.

Best of luck, and welldoen for going the fishless route!!!

Irf.

 

[sws]

I recently did a cycle on my 65L tank - took 50 drops of ammonia to get 5ppm. Bear in mind not all 'drops' are the same and 9.5% ammonia is reasonably weak (the 'original' fishless cycling article uses much higher concentration).
Shaun

 

[miniman]

Thanks for the feedback guys, Im happy man as I have tested today and the ammnia is still there! Im only using good ol boots household ammonia and I put it in the litle pippet jar which i also got from the medicine counter at boots - this may be why it has weakened!

My tap water :
Amm: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5
Yesterday:
Amm: 5 Nitrite: ? Nitrate: ?
Today
Amm: 5 Nitrite: 0.1 Nitrate: 5

Let the wait begin...!

 

[mark.w.jones]

Thanks for the feedback guys, Im happy man as I have tested today and the ammnia is still there! Im only using good ol boots household ammonia and I put it in the litle pippet jar which i also got from the medicine counter at boots - this may be why it has weakened!

My tap water :
Amm: 0 Nitrite: 0 Nitrate: 5
Yesterday:
Amm: 5 Nitrite: ? Nitrate: ?
Today
Amm: 5 Nitrite: 0.1 Nitrate: 5

Let the wait begin...!

Its all looking good fella. You'll get much quicker at doing your stats tests with time and eventually get in the routine of things. Hope it all goes well.

 

[Irf]

Agreed - well done! Best of luck for the cycling - it's a great feeling when its finished and you can add all the fish you want at once!

Irf.