water testing
- Thread starter neoprodigy
- Start date
If you're fishless cyling your tank, here is a good article.
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html
Basically, add enough ammonia to get a reading of 4.0 ppm. When the ammonia reading drops to 0 ppm in 12 hours time, add only enough ammonia back to the tank to get a reading of 1 or 2 ppm. As the article states, the nitrites will rise and stay present for the longest time. Once they begin falling, the levels will quickly drop.
I made the mistake of adding ammonia to keep the level at 4 ppm after it was zeroing out. I think this kept the nitrite high for a longer time. I added so much ammonia, that right before the tank was cycled, the nitrates were at 160 ppm. While it takes longer to colonize the nitrite consuming bacteria, they seem to much hardier than the ammonia consuming BB. I have never had a nitrite reading since the tank was fishless cycled, even though there has been a few times with small ammonia readings (power outages, grossly overfeeding the pacu unlimited watermelon, etc.)
Here's a form I made to log the water testing. I always retested the ammonia after adding ammonia to the tank. I used a dilute ammonia and had to add 132 ml of ammonia to my 300 gallon tank to get a reading of 4 ppm
http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/profiles/misc/fishlesscycling.html
Basically, add enough ammonia to get a reading of 4.0 ppm. When the ammonia reading drops to 0 ppm in 12 hours time, add only enough ammonia back to the tank to get a reading of 1 or 2 ppm. As the article states, the nitrites will rise and stay present for the longest time. Once they begin falling, the levels will quickly drop.
I made the mistake of adding ammonia to keep the level at 4 ppm after it was zeroing out. I think this kept the nitrite high for a longer time. I added so much ammonia, that right before the tank was cycled, the nitrates were at 160 ppm. While it takes longer to colonize the nitrite consuming bacteria, they seem to much hardier than the ammonia consuming BB. I have never had a nitrite reading since the tank was fishless cycled, even though there has been a few times with small ammonia readings (power outages, grossly overfeeding the pacu unlimited watermelon, etc.)
Here's a form I made to log the water testing. I always retested the ammonia after adding ammonia to the tank. I used a dilute ammonia and had to add 132 ml of ammonia to my 300 gallon tank to get a reading of 4 ppm
