How much Ammonia

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
ziggy2;1226048; said:
I was worried that I had added too much. I'm afraid it is going to take a lot of time to cycle down the ammonia. I can't even measure how high it is. My kit won't go that high.
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I'd drain the tank and start over. You've got nothing to lose doing that. I'd take a gallon of your conditioned water and add enough drops of ammonia to get a reading of 4.0 ppm (if you're using an Aquarium Pharmacueticals Freshwater Master Test Kit. Once you know how many drops of ammonia it takes to get a reading of 4.0 ppm (or whatever ppm you decide on), you will know exactly how much ammonia to add to your tank for a reading of 4.0 ppm (you would multiply that amount by 110)

I used this log while cycling our tank. After adding ammonia, we woud retest the ammonia

CyclingLog.jpg
 
Nice sheet. How long did it take to cycle. My main concern is my Discus. I have eight of them ranging from 2.00 to 4.00" They are going in this tank, but for now they are all in a 30. I have two other tanks I can pull water from to refill it if that would help.
 
It took about 28 days. I should have cut the ammonia I added in half once nitrites were measurable. It probably would have made the cycling go faster. It definitely took longer for the nitrites to go down, than the ammonia. I think it just takes longer for the nitrite-consuming bacteria to colonize. We have big oscars and pacu who generate tremendous amounts of waste. By cycling our tank on 4 ppm ammonia, we had the full assurance that we had enough beneficial bacteria to more than handle the bioload of our messy fish. (there's no way our fish can generate even 1.0 ppm ammonia in one day) After the tank was cycled, we moved the fish to their new home with the full assurance that our filtration system could more than handle their bioload. Since moving the fish into the big tank, we have never had measurable nitrite in the tank. We did have low levels of ammonia (.25 ppm) twice---once when the power was off more than 7 hours (bacterial die off) and once when we fed the pacu unlimited amounts of watermelon (excessive urination). No more watermelon for them. During a power failure, we now make sure the bioballs in the wet dry filter are submerged in water.
 
I just tested it again today. I is now about 4. I am going to let it continue to go down. I have not added any ammonia for two days. I will wait till it get to 23 before adding any more. What do you thinik?
 
4.0 ppm is a good number...it can be measured on AP's color chart. If it's at 4.0, you definitely don't need to add more ammonia right now.
 
Just tested the Nitrites and they are around .5. I am sure they are on the way up. My ammonia is still up at 5.0. But it does look as though things are going in the right direction.
 
Good job and I have been keeping up. The advice has been stellar!
 
Here are some more tips on fishless cycling taken from aquatic-hobbyist:

Keep the temperature in the mid to high 80s. If possible, have extra aeration.

aquatic-hobbyist
Test ammonia levels every day. When the ammonia reaches 1, add more ammonia to bring the level back to 4-5. Continue to put ammonia in the tank until the ammonia level goes to zero within 8-12 hours after the ammonia is put in. Once the tank shows the ability to lower the ammonia level in this time interval, a sufficient population of bacteria is resident in your tank and you're halfway there. This part usually takes about two weeks, but can take as long as four weeks.

Now test for nitrites. They should be VERY high. The nitrites will probably exceed the highest limit of your nitrite test. This isn't a problem, if course, because you have no fish to worry about. Continue to add enough ammonia each day to bring the ammonia level to 1 or 2.

The high-nitrite stage seems to last forever. It seems to me that Nitrobacter (the nitrite-consuming bacteria) grow more slowly than Nitrosomas (the ammonia-consuming bacteria).

When the nitrite drops, it will drop rapidly. When the test reads zero for 24 hours or more, your tank is cycled. This is the payoff for all your patience.

Keep adding ammonia until right before you add fish. Then adjust the heater down to a liveable temperature and do a very large water change (at least 90%). (Remember, to add dechlorinator.)
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Here is the full article: http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html
 
90% water change, WOW:WHOA: I didn't expect that. It's , not a problem I'm just surprised. I thought a big WC like that would hurt the BB. I'm not doubting anything, I'm just surprised.

I'll keep you posted. I guess I should have started a calendar for this.:popcorn:
 
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