Confused?

[Truck]

Ok gone out bought my ammonia
how much should i add to my tank
tanks 65L

use this calculator here <a href="http/www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm" target="_blank">http/www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm</a>
its about 3.4ml for 5ppm of ammnoia in 65L

so i just add 3.4ml of ammonia tonight and wait till my test kit turns up and lets see,
bought the ammonia at homebase
9.5%
gave bottle good shack got bubbles but not foam is this the correct ammonia

yep should be fine

 

[Tropical_Fish]

Same stuff I used - no need to shake it though.

The OP was correct to shake it. If it bubbles up a lot it shows it's got nasty chemicals added which aren't good for the tank (some batches of homebase ammonia do froth up - there is a post on here with pics)


I used the exact same stuff, If I shake the bottle a lot I get 2 or 3 bubbles on top which quickly disappear - hopefully that is what you are getting?

Just remember not to sniff up!

You've got a similar size tank to me, I have put 3ml in each time which brings it up above 4ppm but not above 5ppm.

It will most likely take about 10 days before anything starts to happen so yes I would add the ammonia then wait for your api master kit to arrive. When that arrives start testing for ammonia once a day until it drops right down. Then continue with the rest of the cycle

 

[Ginga@139]

Well added ammoina about 3ml last night about 11pm
fair play to the guy i order my API Kit from on ebay it turned up in post thismorning just after 9am . never get post that early!!!!!
so he be getting great feedback

so do i add more ammoina tonight
is it worth doing dip stick test to see if any thing changed?? or will i just be checking nothing out

or just wait until i test the water


Next thing what should i expect my figures to be
whats good and whats not so good and what bad

going to grab dinner and pop back later
ginga

 

[sjolliff]

If you have added the intial 5ppm of ammonia id just test every 24hrs for ammonia and keep an eye on the ph,
once the ammonia starts to drop then start test for nitrites, but your first ammonia can take awhile week to 2

if you keep a log members on here will help you

 

[Ginga@139]

Ok
understand, so ket kit test for ammoina , hopefully should see it start to drop then start to test for nitrites
ok.. think i get it

what about NITRATES what should happen to them , or are thay not important??

Question 2

Plants ??

do i put off adding any plant life until its all settled

 

[sjolliff]

Yeah you got it,

nitrites will turn into nitrates and will go off they chart but this is after the nitrites do,

at the min you just waiting for the ammonia to drop,
and watch the PH coz if it goes near 6.0 it stop/stall the cycle

coz of what iv learned in the past 6-8 weeks i would of choosen not to put plants in, some say they can affect the cycle some dont

but this IMO but its up to you

have you read this
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

 

[Ginga@139]

Ok .. Finally finallly pick up test kit from post office this morning
Just did my water test at about 8-30pm

Results ...

08/08/09
PH 7.6
Nitrites 2ppm
Nitrates 40ppm
Ammonia 4 ppm

is this a good starting point

where do i go from here to improve water quality?

off out now so excuse my rudeness for not replying tonite
will check for a;; your helpful advice in the morning

Ginga

 

[OldMan47]

You have a nice set of readings for starting a fishless cycle. there is enough ammonia to grow the ammonia processing bacteria and enough nitrites to show that you may already be moving a little of that ammonia along to nitrites. The nitrates are higher than some people have in their tap water but it is hard to say what that indicates without knowing what you get for nitrates on your tap water. The pH is high enough that the cycle should progress well without stalling.

 

[Ginga@139]

Moring All
that all sounds great but were do i go from here..
what actions should i take , what should i be doing to help it on its way??
waht should i be aiming for as far as figures are..

Just re read your reply above..
is it worth doing the complete test on my tap water to know what my starting water is???
if i do this would i us water sraight from the tap ..or water i have used tap safe on??

..Ginga..

 

[MHunt]

Moring All
that all sounds great but were do i go from here..
what actions should i take , what should i be doing to help it on its way??
waht should i be aiming for as far as figures are..

Just re read your reply above..
is it worth doing the complete test on my tap water to know what my starting water is???
if i do this would i us water sraight from the tap ..or water i have used tap safe on??

..Ginga..

That fact you've got NitrIte and NitrAte means that your filter bacteria is breaking down the ammonia you're adding to cycle the filter. Keep adding the ammonia and testing, once you have no ammonia and NitrIte, then you are ready to add the fish.

 

[Ginga@139]

Ok quick post before footy starts

you say add ammonia
My figures last night were

08/08/09
PH 7.6
Nitrites 2ppm
Nitrates 40ppm
Ammonia 4 ppm

so do i wait for ammonia to go 0 before adding more?

do i add some more ammonia tonight, or now and test tommorow or tonight

 

[OldMan47]

You only add the ammonia when it gets back down to near zero. If you get too much ammonia in the water, the wrong bacteria will start to become established instead of the ones that you want.

 

[Ginga@139]

You only add the ammonia when it gets back down to near zero. If you get too much ammonia in the water, the wrong bacteria will start to become established instead of the ones that you want.

Ok understand now
Now i start to test on daily basis until tank gets to O Ammonia then i add more

until nitrates and Nitrates do what?

any how will test water after dinner and see
.

 

[Ginga@139]

Ok done tonights test
Ph 7.6
Nitrites 5ppm
Nitrates ... looks not quite 40ppm but not quite 20 ppm
Ammonia .. 4.0 ppm but not quite light enough to be 2.0ppm

water at a swimming pool warm 29c

just as a side note i tesred my tap water thinking every thing would come out O O O O

but got
ph 7.2
nitrites 0.0ppm
nitrates 10ppm
ammonia 0ppm

does this syartung point change any thing or
is it just what it says it is?
tap water

 

[OldMan47]

A little nitrates in the tap water is not too unusual. The pH being lower than tank water usually means that the pH rises soon after coming from the tap because dissolved gasses come out of solution and let the pH rise.