Cyling Going Well!

[csjasona]

Well, after starting a fishless cycle, I have had the huge ammo increase and today it dropped back to near-zero. Just tested the nitr*I*te level and had to laugh - it was so red that it was almost black! Talk about "off the scale!".

So, am I right (after reading the hundreds of posts with ever-so-slightly-different versions) that each day I now do this:

* test the ammo. If it is close to zero, add more to the tank 'til it gets back up to 4 - 6 ppm. If it is not close to zero, then do not add more ammo

* test the nitr*I*te and record the level

* once the nitr*I*te hits zero, do a 90% water and the cycle is done.

* test PH, nitr*A*te, HG, Kh, et al. and if all OK, add the fish.

That right?


Or do I only now need to get the ammo level back up to 1 - 2 ppm?

 

[piper]

Thats pretty much it

How long have you been cycling for ?

 

[csjasona]

The full cyling started only on Thursday of last week The tank was up and running for 5 full days before the cycling started, fully planted, CO2'd, etc.

But I'm still confused as to hw much ammo I add each day - do I get the ammo level back up to 4-6 ppm? 3 - 4ppm? Or even 1 - 2 ppm?

 

[piper]

Add as much ammonia as you can cycle in 24hrs (slowley increasing it daily) or just add a 6ppm and let it cycle out in a few days (then repeat)

I dont think it really matters, as long as there is ammonia your tank will cycle.

This is what I did, and I'm sure people will say "YOU DID IT WRONG, YOUR FISH ARE GOING TO DIE" etc etc but this is my diary.

Week 0-1
Just dumped a load of ammonia in my tank and left it to cycle (ammonia was off the scale)

Week 1-2
Got nitrites and Dumped another load of ammonia and waited

Week 2-3
nitrites feel did 90% water change, added 5 Rummy-nose tetra and 5 cardinals
Levels all zero but one Rummy died

Week 3-4
Added 2 more Rummy-nose, 6 Pentazona Barbs, 2 Dwarf Gouramis, 3 amano shrips
Levels still zero, 10 % WC

week 4-5
Still got all fish and they look happy, all levels still at zero with only my one WC........... ....... .

BTW had Plants in from day one.

 

[glolite]

Add enough ammonia to bring tank up to 6ppm, this was 2 drops of ammo in my 20g tank daily. When I first put in ammonia it took around 30 drops to bring it up to 6ppm so you can see it doesn't take much once you have nitrites present. Then just test nitrites daily until nil, and you can add a few fish. You only need to do a huge water change if you've dumped loads of ammonia in, if you're adding just a couple of drops each day from a pipette or syringe then test for ammonia when the nitrites are nil and if the ammo is nil too then you don't need to water change before adding fish. Some people do a small water change but a huge change can cause problems with nitrAtes later. Best not to do a gravel vac for a few weeks and leave the filter alone for a few weeks too as it's building up good bacteria. After around 3 weeks check your filter and if it's really mucky just clean it lightly in old tank water. Good luck.

 

[csjasona]

Thin I spoke too soon. After testing the ammo last night and adding a drop or two to get it back to about 4pmm, this evening the rating is still about 4ppm. What does this mean?

Think I spoke too soon. After testing the ammo last night and adding a drop or two to get it back to about 4pmm, this evening the rating is still about 4ppm. What does this mean? Should I stop adding more ammo now 'til the level falls to 0 again?

 

[csjasona]

Should I not add more ammo now at all 'til it gets back to 0? And then add just 2 drops or so after that each day to 'feed' the tank?