how much ammonia shud i add to a 180 gallon? can someone explain how i would use pure ammonia to cycle with? and how long should i cycle with using pure ammonia. i have never cycled a tank like this before so please explain in details.
best fish to cycle?
- Thread starter messesb52
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+1 I don't understand why other methods still exist, when all you have to do is add a specific ammount of ammonia every day, throw in some starter bacteria (established media, substrate, or decorations, or commercial products like Nutrafin Cycle and Seachem Stability) and wait a few days. Every other method I know of takes significantly more time and effort.
Edit: I'm having issues with the MFK app, excuse the messed up posts.
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The specific amount will depend on the concentration of the ammonia you get. The way I did it was by using a dropper and adding several drops at a time (keeping track of the number of drops), then testing the water, and repeating this process until the ammonia reading reached 5.0ppm. Once it got there, I wrote down the number of drops it took to get it to that level (which I think was around 75), then just added that number of drops each time the ammonia would reach 0ppm throughout the next week or so. This was on a 36 gallon tank, though, so to do it on a larger scale, you'll probably need to do the same process, but using cups or something as your unit of measurement. You will know the cycle has completed after you see an NO2 increase, then a sharp NO3 increase, and then NH3 and NO2 levels deacreasing to 0ppm. At the end, you'll have a higher concentration of NO3 than can even be read by an average test kit (I used the API master test kit), so you'll have to do several large water changes to get it down to a reasonable level (30ppm or less).
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there is a sticky to fishless cycle a tank step by step in the setup and filtration section of this forum. why not look it up? you'll get all of your answers.
No. The bacteria don't know where the ammonia came from, they just get to work dealing with it.
One thing I'll warn you of, which is pertinent to both your cycle and keeping rays, is that if your water is anything like mine (I don't know how close we are) you'll have low Kh in your water and will need to buffer it by adding baking soda or finding another way to keep the pH stable.
While you're cycling, take as much note of the pH level as the ammonia and nitrIte levels - if the pH crashes the cycle will stall until you bring it back up (regardless of whether it's fishless or not) and it's indicative of what will happen when you've got rays in the tank.
Make sure and read the ingredients on the bottle of ammonia. you want pure ammonia with nothing added.
i found the best way to stabalize kh/gh is by adding crushed coral to your filter. a small amount goes a long way. this will also raise your ph... questionable im sure to some but my water atm is naturally 8+ and gh/kh off the charts.. my rays are doing fine. had instances in the past where i needed stabilized water... that ment dealing with the ph... ime sodium bicarbonate can be hard to stabalize and must be added every water change... its usefull in an emergency crash but like the ph up products more a bandage then a long term fix imo.
Crushed coral in my filters doesn't keep up with my rays.
I add baking soda at water change and during the week, that's how low my Kh is. Fish don't care about pH changes.
I add baking soda at water change and during the week, that's how low my Kh is. Fish don't care about pH changes.
