Ammonia too low now?

[Diab2005]

Hi

I've been fishless cycling for almost 3 weeks now and haven't had much movement in terms of ammonia. I think I added too much to start so today I did a 25% water change and the ammonia is now around 1-1.5ppm. Does this need to be raised or not? I'm cautious of adding in case I go too far again.

I do have nitrites present but these have been there for about a week and a half. See test results of current levels as these tests are a nightmare to read.

 

[AilyNC]

I think you're around Day 13+ on this guide:

Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First!

Cycling Your First Fresh Water Tank What is Cycling and Why is it Important? Fish waste, and especially fish breathing, plus uneaten food and other organic matter breaking down in a tank all produce Ammonia. This can quickly become toxic to fish if it is allowed to build up to any measurable...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Essjay]

Since you have nitrites, I would not add more ammonia yet. Has the nitrite level gone above 2 ppm yet?

 

[Diab2005]

Thanks lads erm I would say nitrites are around 3ppm yes they have been for a while. I checked this morning and I would say the ammonia has dropped to 0.75 so I added 20 drops of Dr Tims...recommended was 35 but I dont want to do too much again. P.s I wasn't ignoring you I just read the post now after adding haha.

 

[Essjay]

Since your nitrite was over 2 ppm, adding more ammonia was the right thing to do

 

[Diab2005]

Just an update guys, got a reading of 0ppm Ammonia and 8+ppm of Nitrite this morning so looks like the maintenance feed in 2 days

 

[Diab2005]

My nitrite and nitrate are through the roof..dark reds. Should I skip the maintenance feed?

 

[Essjay]

Just how high is the nitrite level? I presume your tester measures up to 8 ppm? If you mix some tap water with tank water, half and half, then test that for nitrite then double the figure it should give you a rough idea of how high nitrite really is. If the tank nitrite is higher than 15 to 16 ppm, that is past stall point in which case I'd do a water change big enough to get the reading somewhere on the scale. If it's only just over 8 ppm, then you don't need a water change, just add the maintenance dose when it's due.


Nitrate testers convert nitrate into nitrite then measure nitrite. If there is a lot of nitrite already in the water it will make the nitrate reading higher than it really is.

 

[Diab2005]

Hi mate hadn't thought of that. Just done it and I would say it was around 4ppm maybe a bit over so that makes it roughly 10-12ppm. So not as bad as I thought? What about the maintenance feed as thats meant to be today but I'm assuming its not required if nitrite is that high?

 

[Essjay]

You could maybe wait a couple more days, but not too long as you do need to feed the ammonia eaters every now and then.