Generally, a tank is not fully established until some 5-6 months at least have passed, so it is never a good idea to add sensitive fish at the start or too many fish, as in overstock the tank at once....3ppm is plenty..... Latest research shows the nitrifiers in aquarium like settings are mainly archaea and not bacteria. Archaea is used to low ammonia levels at any given time Think the negligible concentrations in a cycled tank, that's what they're normally exposed to....
Metaphorically said, if your family eats one loaf of bread a day, it doesn't mean they're eating it in a single dinner. You may have some for breakfast sandwiches, some for lunch, some with the dinner later on, total one bread a day. So when you dose 3 or 4 ppm ammonia per day, you're serving one loaf of bread for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner. But you can only handle one loaf of bread for the entire day...and eating more will make you blow up.....
When you fishlessly cycle a tank, all you need to ensure is that there's an ammonia reading at any given time because that's what the archaea can manage safely, low levels/concentrations. If you serve more bread, you may have to call the neighbors for dinner to finish it up but you may not like the company...
Metaphorically said, if your family eats one loaf of bread a day, it doesn't mean they're eating it in a single dinner. You may have some for breakfast sandwiches, some for lunch, some with the dinner later on, total one bread a day. So when you dose 3 or 4 ppm ammonia per day, you're serving one loaf of bread for breakfast, one for lunch and one for dinner. But you can only handle one loaf of bread for the entire day...and eating more will make you blow up.....
When you fishlessly cycle a tank, all you need to ensure is that there's an ammonia reading at any given time because that's what the archaea can manage safely, low levels/concentrations. If you serve more bread, you may have to call the neighbors for dinner to finish it up but you may not like the company...
