Cycle progress

[Galvin88]

Hi guys
Just a quick post, I need help on the progress off my cycle and how it's getting on.
I'm new to the test kit part and would just like a bit of feedback on how it's looking with the test and what I should do next, IE if I need to do a water change or not.

 

[Essjay]

If the ammonia is as green as it looks in the photo, yes you do need to do a water change.

Your pH is well above 7.0 so any ammonia reading above zero will have some on the toxic form. I can't tell from the photo whether the high range pH is 8.0 or 8.2 but at that level you need to keep the ammonia level at zero.

[Ammonia testers test total ammonia, which is ammonia and ammonium added together. The amount in each form is pH dependant. At low pH it is virtually all in the non-toxic ammonium form while the higher over 7.0 it is the more that is in the toxic ammonia form]

 

[Galvin88]

If the ammonia is as green as it looks in the photo, yes you do need to do a water change.

Your pH is well above 7.0 so any ammonia reading above zero will have some on the toxic form. I can't tell from the photo whether the high range pH is 8.0 or 8.2 but at that level you need to keep the ammonia level at zero.

[Ammonia testers test total ammonia, which is ammonia and ammonium added together. The amount in each form is pH dependant. At low pH it is virtually all in the non-toxic ammonium form while the higher over 7.0 it is the more that is in the toxic ammonia form]

The pH looks 8.2 and the amonka I think was around 0.5, what percent water change should I do to get it to 0?

 

[Essjay]

As much as necessary. Since 50% will get it down to 0.25, I would do around 75% at least.

At pH 8.2, of that 0.5 ppm ammonia, the amount of the toxic form is 0.042 ppm. This does not sound very much, but fish can only cope with 0.05 for a day or two at most. They can can cope with 0.02 for a few days. But ideally, the toxic form should be well under 0.02.


You can work out the amount in the toxic form using this calculator https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/FreeAmmonia.php
For freshwater, set salinity to zero and fill in the other boxes on the left with your data. The number to look at is NH3 concentration on the right. Try to keep that number below 0.02.