Ammonia Stay away!

[ks2012ks]

Hi all,
I set up my 10 gallon fish tank and bought a master freshwater test kit ... my ammonia levels are 1.5 - 2.0 and i am wondering if i should start over or should i go buy some good bacteria for the fish tank to speed up the process of the biological filter kicking in and lowering my ammonia level... i have no fish in there but i put snails in the tank month ago and they ended up dying after that i did a 90 % water change and left some of the debris at the bottom of the tank. I bought ph proper 7.5 and ph up and ph down. And i also bought ammo-lock this all freshwater stuff. But i ****ing need this tank to cycle and i refuse to give up ... my ammonia levels are way to high for anything to live in. The ph i am not worry about as much my last reading was about 6.5 -6.8. So here is my questions... what am i doing wrong? What more do i need to buy to get this tank cycling? And why is ammonia levels so high for a tank that doesn’t even get fish food put into it.


I tested the tap water at my location i got 6.8 ph and a 0 level ammonia reading...

Should i just leave the high levels of ammonia in there for a while until the cycle kicks in? Just waiting on my next move!

 

[FishGuest5123]

Don’t mess with ammo lock or PH Up/Down. You just want to concentrate on letting cycle build. You can add some bottled bacteria if you want. What are your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate numbers right now?

 

[ks2012ks]

I am going to do a test now i’ll Post in a few minutes!

 

[ks2012ks]

Test results as of now!

PH = 6.8
AMMONIA = 1.0 ppm
NITRITE = 0 ppm
NITRATE = 0 ppm

I have used a little proper ph and a little ammo lock a week ago.... now that u have said not to use any yet i am not going to use anything yet! But i will get some good bacteria at the store...

 

[FishGuest5123]

Ok, let everything climb. If you have some pure ammonia with no detergent in it,( it will make suds when shaken if detergent in it) then add a drop to your tank. If you don’t have ammonia then add a pellet or 2 of fish food every few days to make ammonia. If the ammonia gets to 4 ppm then do a water change of 50%. Don’t add anything else. You should see some nitrites in a few days. Let them climb. As they climb, your ammonia will drop. Now comes your longest part. It could take several weeks before you see nitrates. (Unless you use the bottled bacteria mentioned below. It will cut your time in half. If nitrites get to 4ppm and nothing seems to be moving, then you can do a 50% water change. Do this ONLY if you feel things have stalled. When nitrates begin to show up, your nitrites will drop. When you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates then you are cycled. At that point do a large water change to get your nitrates below 20ppm, preferably 10ppm or below. I would recommend getting some Tetra Safe Start+ also and pouring it into your filter. It is a good bottled bacteria which will help jump start your cycle. If you use Prime as your water conditioner, don’t use it for the first 24 hours after adding the Safe Start as it will destroy the bottled bacteria. Use another dechlorinator for first 24 hours. After that, you can use the Prime again.
Now, you will get a lot of different opinions on how to cycle your tank. Everyone has their own way of doing it. I can tell you that I have never had an issue getting a tank cycled. However, you need to choose what makes sense to you and stick to that. Otherwise, you will be so confused that you won’t know what to do. We are here for you. You can do this!

 

[ks2012ks]

Ok, let everything climb. If you have some pure ammonia with no detergent in it,( it will make suds when shaken if detergent in it) then add a drop to your tank. If you don’t have ammonia then add a pellet or 2 of fish food every few days to make ammonia. If the ammonia gets to 4 ppm then do a water change of 50%. Don’t add anything else. You should see some nitrites in a few days. Let them climb. As they climb, your ammonia will drop. Now comes your longest part. It could take several weeks before you see nitrates. (Unless you use the bottled bacteria mentioned below. It will cut your time in half. If nitrites get to 4ppm and nothing seems to be moving, then you can do a 50% water change. Do this ONLY if you feel things have stalled. When nitrates begin to show up, your nitrites will drop. When you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates then you are cycled. At that point do a large water change to get your nitrates below 20ppm, preferably 10ppm or below. I would recommend getting some Tetra Safe Start+ also and pouring it into your filter. It is a good bottled bacteria which will help jump start your cycle. If you use Prime as your water conditioner, don’t use it for the first 24 hours after adding the Safe Start as it will destroy the bottled bacteria. Use another dechlorinator for first 24 hours. After that, you can use the Prime again.
Now, you will get a lot of different opinions on how to cycle your tank. Everyone has their own way of doing it. I can tell you that I have never had an issue getting a tank cycled. However, you need to choose what makes sense to you and stick to that. Otherwise, you will be so confused that you won’t know what to do. We are here for you. You can do this!

Ok sounds good ... for this week i’ll Start building up the ammonia with fish food then i’ll Buy some good bacteria when ammonia levels get high . As of now i think i am just going to let the ammonia levels build up before i go ahead and continue the biological filter. Ya i am kind of a virgin when it comes to this stuff. U know the pet store and fish stores don’t sell fish with out explaining how complicated it is to keep a fish as a pet! This is my first time actually working with a biological filter system... many times in the past i bought fish with out even knowing any of these steps! I guess ammonia is your friend during this cycle process ... thanks again in the future i’ll Refer back to your comment.. i am hoping it guides me to get a happy cycle going !

 

[FishGuest5123]

You already have some ammonia so I would get the Safe Start and get it going. No need to wait. Good luck!