Ammonia Calculator

[stanleo]

I am about to start a fishless cycle so I read the article in that section, which is incredibly helpful. In that article it states that the desired ppm of ammonia when starting out should be 3ppm. In the calculator it recommends 5ppm. Can this be changed on the calculator? It's a little confusing.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Yes, simply change the 5 for 3
 
It does say recommended 5ppm, but this was before the revised Fishless Cycling article recommended 3ppm. So ignore that part really.
 
Simply click on the 5, delete
 

 
 
Replace with 3
 

 
 
Do take into consideration the tank volume after substrate, decor and plants etc, usually subtract about 10%, that would be more accurate. And use your preferred measurement litre or gallons.
 
Also read the ammonia strength on the bottle and change this if necessary, most ammonia products are at 9.5% but for example I bought a specific ammonia for cycling and that was at 35% so needed to change the box accordingly.
 
Then you're good to go, do test the tank to be sure you have approx 3ppm according to whichever test kit you're using.

 

[the_lock_man]

Yes, that calculator is VERY old, I believe it's been on the site for around 7 or 8 years, and at that time, the recommended dosage was 5ppm. As with anything, our understanding of a process moves on, and recommendations alter in line with that updated understanding.

 

[Zikofski]

Yes, simply change the 5 for 3
 
It does say recommended 5ppm, but this was before the revised Fishless Cycling article recommended 3ppm. So ignore that part really.
 

 
 

Yes, that calculator is VERY old, I believe it's been on the site for around 7 or 8 years, and at that time, the recommended dosage was 5ppm. As with anything, our understanding of a process moves on, and recommendations alter in line with that updated understanding.

 
 
stanleo has a good point, its all good and easy to change it from a 5 to a 3, but if someone dose not know what they are doing and don't do there research enough then they are still going to use 5ppm, so it should be changed inline with the times, it shouldn't be hard to change. people come here for the correct information and sadly it is wrong on this part. conflicting information is just as bad if not worse it confused me, calculator says 5 other places say 3 >_< please please someone change it

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I agree and did request that change at the time the cycling article was submitted. I still would like to see that field blank to start. There are times when using less or more ammonia than 3 ppm is advised which will hopefully be in the next article if I can get to writing it and if site mgmt. wants it. it would deal with more sophisticated cycling information such as seeding, plants and cycling as well as a bit of info on the final stage of the nitrogen cycle- denitrification when the nitrogen returns to the air as a gas and how that works in tanks.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

I'm not certain it's as easy a fix as some might think. We have discussed it amongst the moderation team, and I believe the outcome was that it was not changeable. I don't know enough about the computer code though to offer anymore insight than that.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

I can not believe that nobody can find the one line of code where it states 5 ppm and simply change the 5 to a 3? Nothing really has to be changed except that one number.Some where in it is a line which says print (5ppm Recommended) and that 5 needs to be changed to a 3. Now if you want to argue that the site programmers can not get access to the code or that they are not skilled enough to change it, that is another story.

 

[fm1978]

I'm with TTA on this one...
 
That's about as easy a change as you could ever hope to make with a piece of code. Even easier than changing the text is simply to change the line of code that populates the default ppm to 5 in the form in the 1st place and perhaps just delete the text with the recommended dose.
 
I'm looking at the code right now and line 483 is....
 
<input type="text" name="Alevel" value="5" onKeyDown="Am()" onKeyUp="Am()">
 
Surely someone can change that 5 to a 3!?!

 

[Chad]

I edited the calculator so it reads 3 by default now instead of 5 just to make it easier on everyone.

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

That is another reason I love this forum. Change happens when someone gives a recommendation. Keep up the good work

 

[eaglesaquarium]

That is another reason I love this forum. Change happens when someone gives a recommendation. Keep up the good work

 
 
If I may Ellie, change happens when someone gives a well reasoned recommendation that positively impacts the board.  Not all recommendations are readily accepted.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Or maybe the squeekiest wheel gets the grease?

 

[EllieJellyEllie]

Well, yeah, I was going to edit my post but I had too leave, oopsies

 

[Chad]

I can honestly say I consider all suggestions. Not all of them get done but actually quite a few of them do. In this case laziness prevailed as it was an easy fix.

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Whatever the reason, thanks. It really will help the new members cycling their first or second tank.