1St Water Test

[peediedj67]

It will make a difference, as Waterdrop said idealy you are best to keep the Ammonia level to around 4ppm, just replace some of the tank water with clean dechlorinated tap water, then test again to see if the level is around 4-5ppm.

another silly question, once ammonia levels get to 0 why do i need to add more if i want it to be 0??

Once the Ammonia level has gone to 0 you add more Ammonia so that the bacteria is kept fed and therefore can multiply to the amount you need to be able to add your fish. In the eary stages your filter will take more than 1 day to process 4-5ppm of Ammonia. When you get to the point that your filter can process 4-5 ppm of Ammonia per day, the fishless cycle will almost be complete.

Keep being patient, all good things come to those who wait

just took about 8 litres out the tank and tested again, still looks close to 8 again !! if it ever drops whats best way to add ammonia next time so i dont ut to much in?

 

[Livewire88]

It will make a difference, as Waterdrop said idealy you are best to keep the Ammonia level to around 4ppm, just replace some of the tank water with clean dechlorinated tap water, then test again to see if the level is around 4-5ppm.

another silly question, once ammonia levels get to 0 why do i need to add more if i want it to be 0??

Once the Ammonia level has gone to 0 you add more Ammonia so that the bacteria is kept fed and therefore can multiply to the amount you need to be able to add your fish. In the eary stages your filter will take more than 1 day to process 4-5ppm of Ammonia. When you get to the point that your filter can process 4-5 ppm of Ammonia per day, the fishless cycle will almost be complete.

Keep being patient, all good things come to those who wait

just took about 8 litres out the tank and tested again, still looks close to 8 again !! if it ever drops whats best way to add ammonia next time so i dont ut to much in?

Just take more water out intill it reads between 4-5ppm, When I cycled my tank I only used half of what the Calculator said I needed to, so next time you add Ammonia just add half of what the Calculator says and test your water, you will find out how much you need to add for future reference.

 

[peediedj67]

Just take more water out intill it reads between 4-5ppm, When I cycled my tank I only used half of what the Calculator said I needed to, so next time you add Ammonia just add half of what the Calculator says and test your water, you will find out how much you need to add for future reference.

will leave it until tommorrow morning i think then change more

 

[peediedj67]

checked ammonia today still sky high not sure i have set filters up properly as they should of started to fall by now .... no? did a near 50% water change and added water conditoner hoping this will improve it, either that or iam not doing ammonia test properly

 

[waterdrop]

It is hard to tell from your posts but it sounds like you may have spilled way more ammonia into your tank than needed and now are just having a hard time realizing that lots of water will need to be changed out to get that concentration down to the right place. And yes, you do need to follow the ammonia testing instructions from your kit very carefully, it is not a general thing.

I'm also not sure about your statement that you are worried about the setup of your filters. If you have placed your various media in the filter such that water can not "cheat" and get around it without being filtered then that aspect should be ok. To check that it is running you just put your hand in front of the output and verify that you have significant flow. If you are making that statement because you thought the ammonia level should have dropped then you may not be understanding the "timeline" we're talking about here - it could be a week or even two before there are enough ammonia processing bacteria to cause your ammonia test level to go down. Does that make sense?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[peediedj67]

It is hard to tell from your posts but it sounds like you may have spilled way more ammonia into your tank than needed and now are just having a hard time realizing that lots of water will need to be changed out to get that concentration down to the right place. And yes, you do need to follow the ammonia testing instructions from your kit very carefully, it is not a general thing.

I'm also not sure about your statement that you are worried about the setup of your filters. If you have placed your various media in the filter such that water can not "cheat" and get around it without being filtered then that aspect should be ok. To check that it is running you just put your hand in front of the output and verify that you have significant flow. If you are making that statement because you thought the ammonia level should have dropped then you may not be understanding the "timeline" we're talking about here - it could be a week or even two before there are enough ammonia processing bacteria to cause your ammonia test level to go down. Does that make sense?

~~waterdrop~~

put maybe 6 ml tops in so not that much more

 

[riogal_11]

It is hard to tell from your posts but it sounds like you may have spilled way more ammonia into your tank than needed and now are just having a hard time realizing that lots of water will need to be changed out to get that concentration down to the right place. And yes, you do need to follow the ammonia testing instructions from your kit very carefully, it is not a general thing.

I'm also not sure about your statement that you are worried about the setup of your filters. If you have placed your various media in the filter such that water can not "cheat" and get around it without being filtered then that aspect should be ok. To check that it is running you just put your hand in front of the output and verify that you have significant flow. If you are making that statement because you thought the ammonia level should have dropped then you may not be understanding the "timeline" we're talking about here - it could be a week or even two before there are enough ammonia processing bacteria to cause your ammonia test level to go down. Does that make sense?

~~waterdrop~~

put maybe 6 ml tops in so not that much more

You are replacing the water that you take out, right? May seem like a silly question, but you mentioned removing the water, but I wasn't sure if you put more in. That seems to be the only explanation as to why the concentration wouldn't change at all once you did a water change.

 

[peediedj67]

You are replacing the water that you take out, right? May seem like a silly question, but you mentioned removing the water, but I wasn't sure if you put more in. That seems to be the only explanation as to why the concentration wouldn't change at all once you did a water change.

yes filling it back u to top level

 

[riogal_11]

I would just keep taking some out until you get the appropriate reading. Luckily, this happened at the start, so you really aren't losing anything by doing so. Make sure to be very careful next time.

 

[peediedj67]

did another test tonight seemed to be better hard to be 100% accurate but i,d say between 3-4 if not 4 but half what it was yesterday

 

[Livewire88]

Good news, now just test the water daily till all the ammonia has gone.

This may take a couple of weeks so remember to be patient.

 

[peediedj67]

ammonia test still coming out about 4 ish not sure iam doing it right?? says dont hold finger over top of sample but if you dont do that how do you shake it? should it of started cycling by now? i put some fish food in before ammonia and its still floating on surface beside filter

 

[OldMan47]

It could well read that same 4 ppm for a couple of weeks. That does not mean that there is anything wrong. You are trying to multiply the bacteria that happened to be in the water that you used to fill the tank. If the final amount needed for your filter is let's say a half a million, and the bacteria double each day, the day before you have enough there will only be half enough, the day before that only 1/4 enough, etc. On day 1 you might only have a very small number but doubling every day does eventually go fast enough to get where you are going. It goes 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, etc. for each original bacterium. As you can see, by day 11 each original bacterium has become about 2000. After that things will seem to speed up.

 

[peediedj67]

It could well read that same 4 ppm for a couple of weeks. That does not mean that there is anything wrong. You are trying to multiply the bacteria that happened to be in the water that you used to fill the tank. If the final amount needed for your filter is let's say a half a million, and the bacteria double each day, the day before you have enough there will only be half enough, the day before that only 1/4 enough, etc. On day 1 you might only have a very small number but doubling every day does eventually go fast enough to get where you are going. It goes 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128, 256, 512, 1024, 2048, etc. for each original bacterium. As you can see, by day 11 each original bacterium has become about 2000. After that things will seem to speed up.

ah right that explains it was worried as tested today and still around 4

 

[peediedj67]

OK DID A near 50 % water change today left it a hr or so and tested ammonia seems to be down to just above 1 but well under 2,so hopefully keep coming down now