Issues with cycling tank

  • We are currently upgrading MFK. thanks! -neo
Go on and throw a decent sized cheap hardy fish in there might be an idea. Now your avatar that's another issue ;)
 
just read through the thread,, still having problems? i would definitely stop the water changes,, with fishless cycling there is no need to do water changes until the day before you are gonna put fish in there. btw i am currently doing a fishless cycle..


drstrangelove,, awesome write up the only thing i do not like is when talking about how much ammonia... its normal to just say 3 drops per 10 gallons but what size drops? my tank is 365
gallons (+) +/- 85 gallons in the filter and i added 100ml which brought me up to roughly 4ppm of ammonia.
i am trying to find the article i read that used ml instead of drops cause there are many different sized droppers
 
Last edited:
all in all no matter how you measure it, you just can not assume it will read the same as the next persons.. there are to many variations #1 being human error. Just my thoughts,
 
I agree. I'd measure out my ammonia using cc or mL droppers or cups based upon an online conversion to calculate what is needed.

Using water it works out to 1 mL = ~15 drops. 1 mL = 1 cc. Water overstates the amount slightly as it has a slightly higher weight and density under normal conditions.
 
Last edited:
Okay, I have found some places that state 20 drops per mL, so it's depending on other factors (temperature, viscosity, purity levels, for example.)

Regardless, the precise input amount isn't crucial. The better plan is to aim at getting ammonia up to something like 3-5 ppm. This will lead to definitive nitrite and nitrate readings. (The problem with trying to define an exact input is that sumps, decorations and inaccurate tank volumes can make the actual volume of water rather hard to determine.)

By the time the tank is fully cycled, nitrate readings will likely be quite high, and at that time, a large WC would be appropriate.
 
Last edited:
yes i totally agree,,, i would say purity of said ammonia would be the biggest factor..

also when most dose ammonia/meds ect. they usually do not count for the filter volume plus
water displacement of decorations/rock/substrate.
 
.25 ammonia with a API master fresh water test kit is negligible. I have never had a test for ammonia look exactly like the yellow on the chart or be danged, you see a little green in there? I use to ask my wife. drop it on the carpet and look down may be more yellow than thought. or appeared.
 
MonsterFishKeepers.com