Another Fishless Cycle Question

[lisa2701]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I bought a 48l interpret fishbox, which came with filter heater etc. It was used and the fish had only been removed from the tank a few hours before I got it. The women says the filter was cycled ( I had asked her not to clean it) and the filter was still wet when I set up the tank. I want to check for myself that the filter is 100% cycled so last night I added ammonia and brought it up to 4ppm. I had only intended on 3ppm but obviously the calculations of how much ammonia to add was a little off. Anyway...

Readings this morning ( almost exactly 12 hours later) are:

Ammonia 0.5 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:0
PH: 7.6
Temp: 26c

I have added more ammonia to bring it up to 3 ppm and will test again this evening.

My question is - Would you expect a fully cycled tank to 'fully' remove 4ppm of ammonia in 12 or less. In other words, does my filter appear to be working as though it is cycled? Like I said I'm not just going to throw fish in, I will monitor it for a few days at least to make sure the filter is definitely cycled.

 

[Electric Warrior]

Hi everyone,

Yesterday I bought a 48l interpret fishbox, which came with filter heater etc. It was used and the fish had only been removed from the tank a few hours before I got it. The women says the filter was cycled ( I had asked her not to clean it) and the filter was still wet when I set up the tank. I want to check for myself that the filter is 100% cycled so last night I added ammonia and brought it up to 4ppm. I had only intended on 3ppm but obviously the calculations of how much ammonia to add was a little off. Anyway...

Readings this morning ( almost exactly 12 hours later) are:

Ammonia 0.5 ppm
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate:0
PH: 7.6
Temp: 26c

I have added more ammonia to bring it up to 3 ppm and will test again this evening.

My question is - Would you expect a fully cycled tank to 'fully' remove 4ppm of ammonia in 12 or less. In other words, does my filter appear to be working as though it is cycled? Like I said I'm not just going to throw fish in, I will monitor it for a few days at least to make sure the filter is definitely cycled.

IMO, I would think that 4ppm is a bit high to dose in a 48L, with an already established media in the filter. Someone can come along and correct me if I am wrong, but this is what I am thinking. It would be okay to dose 4ppm the very first time in a brand new tank that hasn't been cycled yet, but if the filter is still carrying the beneficial bacteria, I would only be dosing about 2ppm to test it out. This is just what I think... Mainly because too much ammonia could kill off some of the helpful bacteria in the filter.

 

[lisa2701]

Yes I see what you are saying. 4ppm was an accident. i used the calculator on this forum to calculate how much ammonia to use to bring it up to 3ppm and went by that - it took me to 4ppm. So today I have dosed smaller and only bought it up to 3ppm.

Obviously I can lessen it even more if I need to so I'd appreciate more thoughts on this matter?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

Yes I see what you are saying. 4ppm was an accident. i used the calculator on this forum to calculate how much ammonia to use to bring it up to 3ppm and went by that - it took me to 4ppm. So today I have dosed smaller and only bought it up to 3ppm.

Obviously I can lessen it even more if I need to so I'd appreciate more thoughts on this matter?

I'd agree with ElectricWarrior and dose less... 1-2ppm would be sufficient to simply double check your filter is doing what it should
The '0' NitrAte maybe an issue though, which test kit are you using?

Terry.

 

[lisa2701]

I am using an API master kit.

The readings from tonight (12 hours from adding ammonia - 3ppm)

Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0-5ppm (closer to 5 than 0 - definitely more orangey than yellow)

I have brought the ammonia back up to between 1-2ppm and will test again in the morning.

 

[The Taffy Apple]

I am using an API master kit.

The readings from tonight (12 hours from adding ammonia - 3ppm)

Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0-5ppm (closer to 5 than 0 - definitely more orangey than yellow)

I have brought the ammonia back up to between 1-2ppm and will test again in the morning.

Be sure to give those NitrAte test bottles a over-indulged thwack !!! Play the drums with them, switch the radio and go for it... ..... if you are processing Ammonia that quick then you should expect to see the end results being alot higher than the orangey you describe.

Terry.

 

[lisa2701]

I am using an API master kit.

The readings from tonight (12 hours from adding ammonia - 3ppm)

Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0-5ppm (closer to 5 than 0 - definitely more orangey than yellow)

I have brought the ammonia back up to between 1-2ppm and will test again in the morning.

Be sure to give those NitrAte test bottles a over-indulged thwack !!! Play the drums with them, switch the radio and go for it... ..... if you are processing Ammonia that quick then you should expect to see the end results being alot higher than the orangey you describe.

Terry.

Thanks for the advice...Tomorrow morning I will be sure to "thwak" to with the bottles . Maybe I am not shaking them up enough?

 

[The Taffy Apple]

It's a common mistake... although it doesn't really advise on the bottles to hit them as much as they need, and we do, to get the results we're looking for.
Best of luck with the percussion session.

Terry.

 

[lisa2701]

Yeah it only tells you to shake the 2nd bottle for 30 seconds. I will bash/hit/shake both bottles for a good while tomorrow morning. Thanks again.

 

[lisa2701]

Ok, this mornings results:

Ammonia: 1ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 5ppm

I broke the test tube but what do you think, agree with my readings of it?