Did I Add Too Much Ammonia?

[AdultMaleChicago]

Hi this is my first "real" post. Check out my introduction to meet me.

I just started the cycle. My understanding is that I need somewhere around 5.0ppm ammonia in order to begin things properly. Last night I did 3 spoonfulls and after an hour I tested for 2.0ppm. After that I added 4 more spoonfulls and after another hour tested for what looked like way over 8.0ppm (the max that my API freshwater master test kit will do). I got up this morning and kept my fingers crossed that my levels would be down a little bit, but this is what I got:



QUESTION: Did I add too much and therefore make the cycling process impossible/considerably longer? I am considering a water change. Should I do it and if so how much should I switch out. My guess is that the answer is going to be do a little bit of water change until the ammonia levels are reduced since we are so early in the process.

THANKS.

 

[jonathand]

Hi, yeah that does look quite dark.
Remember you need to wait 5 minutes for the correct colour to appear in the tube.

In theory you should be able to half the ppm with a 50% water change but probably best to let someone with more experience advise!

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Do a 50% water change and test for ammonia again after the filter has been running for 20-30 minutes.
Remember to turn the heater off at least 15 minutes before you remove any water.

Do you have a syringe with measurements on there to help you dose the ammonia accurately?

The calculator at the top of the page is a great help.
Measure the internal dimensions of your tank to the fill level to calculate the water volume. If you really want to you can then take bit off the volume for gravel and ornaments but does not matter if you dont have a lot.

Use the ammonia dosing calculator to then work out how much to put.
If you dont have any means (syringe) to measure the ammonia dose at the moment then use the APItest tube fill line (5ml) as a guide to add the ammonia on the next occasion.
When you get a syringe and dose, check the ammonia reading once by doing a test to make sure you are correct.

Get two syringes. One to remove tank water for testing and one to dose the ammonia. Keep them seperate and was them and the tubes thoroughly each time.

Dont panic its early days yet.
We all have hiccups.
I like breaking my test tubes!

 

[Skins]

Do a 50% water change and test for ammonia again after the filter has been running for 20-30 minutes.
Remember to turn the heater off at least 15 minutes before you remove any water.

Do you have a syringe with measurements on there to help you dose the ammonia accurately?

The calculator at the top of the page is a great help.
Measure the internal dimensions of your tank to the fill level to calculate the water volume. If you really want to you can then take bit off the volume for gravel and ornaments but does not matter if you dont have a lot.

Use the ammonia dosing calculator to then work out how much to put.
If you dont have any means (syringe) to measure the ammonia dose at the moment then use the APItest tube fill line (5ml) as a guide to add the ammonia on the next occasion.
When you get a syringe and dose, check the ammonia reading once by doing a test to make sure you are correct.

Get two syringes. One to remove tank water for testing and one to dose the ammonia. Keep them seperate and was them and the tubes thoroughly each time.

Dont panic its early days yet.
We all have hiccups.
I like breaking my test tubes!

Agree with Barry,
Perform a water change this will help dilute the amount of ammonia you currently have in your tank water, Then re-test to see your new ammonia level.
No need to panic its early stages.

Keep us posted, Keith.

 

[fluttermoth]

I agree with the other posters; do a 50% change and get the level of ammonia down to 4 or 5ppm. Only because, if you leave the ammonia that high, you'll get the wrong sort of bacteria growing; ones that need a high level to survive and those bacteria would all die off at the lower levels you'd get in a tank with fish

 

[Aqua Tom]

Dont worry you have not messed up you cycle. you just need to dilute the water with changes untill you see 4-5ppm.

 

[AdultMaleChicago]

Thanks everyone. I liked how the advice for this is so far unanimous. I completed a 50% water change and waited a while to check the levels.

One thing I noticed while doing this by the way was a heavy smell of ammonia. After using the calculator I am sure that I added too much in the beginning. To prevent this in the future I am going to get the measuring stuff as well as a large bucket to help with water changes.

The new ammonia test appears to be somewhere between 4.0ppm and 8.0ppm, its a little hard to tell. The color is sort of a teal blue. It seems to be lighter but I am wondering if its still too dark. If it is I can do another smaller water change when I get home from work later tonight around midnight.

Here is a picture if anyone wants to check it out:


Also a question about Barry's advice to turn off the heater for at least 15 mins prior to the water change. I had no problem doing this but I am trying to figure out why this is necessary. The only thing I can think of is it helps cool down the water to room temp so that the new water going in is around the same temp. I could see how this might be important if there were fish in there. Am I close?

 

[fluttermoth]

Thanks everyone. I liked how the advice for this is so far unanimous. I completed a 50% water change and waited a while to check the levels.

We don't agree on everything all the time though! Fish keeping is an art as well as a science and we quite often have differences of opinion!

One thing I noticed while doing this by the way was a heavy smell of ammonia. After using the calculator I am sure that I added too much in the beginning. To prevent this in the future I am going to get the measuring stuff as well as a large bucket to help with water changes.

The new ammonia test appears to be somewhere between 4.0ppm and 8.0ppm, its a little hard to tell. The color is sort of a teal blue. It seems to be lighter but I am wondering if its still too dark. If it is I can do another smaller water change when I get home from work later tonight around midnight.

Here is a picture if anyone wants to check it out:

Yes, it still looks a bit dark to me; another W/C later would be a good idea.

Also a question about Barry's advice to turn off the heater for at least 15 mins prior to the water change. I had no problem doing this but I am trying to figure out why this is necessary. The only thing I can think of is it helps cool down the water to room temp so that the new water going in is around the same temp. I could see how this might be important if there were fish in there. Am I close?

Well, I can only assume that Barry is worried you might be changing enough water to expose the heater; if you are it may be a good idea to switch it off and let it cool down; heaters mustn't be taken out of the water while switched on or hot as they can crack.
When you water change with fish in, you want to warm the new water up to the temperature of the tank, not the tank to the water

 

[Aqua Tom]

[quote name='AdultMaleChicago' date='20 January 2011 - 07:15 PM'
Also a question about Barry's advice to turn off the heater for at least 15 mins prior to the water change. I had no problem doing this but I am trying to figure out why this is necessary. The only thing I can think of is it helps cool down the water to room temp so that the new water going in is around the same temp. I could see how this might be important if there were fish in there. Am I close?
[/quote]


Its a safety thing. if you are removing enough water that the glass heater casing is exposed to atmosphere while it is switched on then it can break. So turn it off.


You should not ne able to smell ammonia at all when dosed to 5ppm so I would say you are massivly overdosed.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

How big are the spoons you used?

Are they medical 5ml or 2.5l spoons or tea spoons or table spoons?
A tea spoon is about 4ml i think.
You have added a total of 7 spoon fulls. Even if its the smallest size of 2.5ml spoon, you have dosed for a volume of about 333 litres if its 9.5% ammonia.
What volume of water have you got and do you have 9.5% ammonia or is it different. I gather your in the states?

As its early stages i would do a 100% water change.
Get it up to cycling temperature.
Test the water for ammonia as you may have some left in the gravel water and once you are certain about your water volume and the ammonia products strength, re-dose carefully.

The guys are spot on about the reasons for turning the heater off.
I did a 100% water change last night and waited over 15 mins as my heater is huge - its like a light sabre!

 

[AdultMaleChicago]

I am in the United States using a 10 gallon tank. I have ammonia from ACE Hardware. It is 10% with nothing extra added.

I used teaspoons rather instead of something more accurate because of what I read in this article. I thought that it was more of an inexact thing until I started doing the testing and saw the effects.

I don't mind doing a complete water change since there probably will be way too much ammonia still in there even if I do another change later tonight. I'd rather do that than waste the money on the testing drops on trial and error.

A question for when I start over again: how worried should I be about the pH levels at this time? Should I add any water conditioner or pH stuff prior to cycling or just wait until its time for fish?

Thanks.

 

[Aqua Tom]

As it is only a 10 gallon tank i would take the opotunity to do a 100% water change including emptying the filter of water. Then refill add dechlorinator then start the filter. Leave it for 5 mins then top up the tank.

Then add your ammonia which for a 10 us gallon tank is only 1.9ml ammonia for 5ppm.

For a 10 imp Gallon tank it is 2.39ml ammonia

Hope this helps


~Tom~

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

+1 Tom.

I would stay away from adding ph stuff into your tank. Have you been advised by somebody to use it?
Is ph an issue for you for the type of fish you want to have?
You can add sodium bicarbonate towards the end of cycling if ph is going to crash to help maintain the cycle.
Ph in water works on a logrithmic scale so a +/- 1 change in ph may mean 100 fold change in conditions for the fish.
There are other ways to slightly adjust ph slightly and safetly which are used on bigger tanks and there loads of people who can help with that

 

[AdultMaleChicago]

Thanks all for the additional advice. I chose to do a 100% water change by taking all the components apart, rinsing it all out, and then adding some new water. I also went out in the cold today and bought a pair of syringes to assist with testing the water and adding ammonia as needed.

I didn't mind breaking everything down and reassembling it again because it gave me the change to bury my bubble wall completely underneath the gravel and for some reason the bubbles look a lot better now .

Looking around the forum at other people's fishless cycles. I found the New Fishless Cycle Template. I think I'll use this to start a new thread at the beginning of my re-do tomorrow morning after the water heats up.

A word on the pH level: I just wanted to ask for clarification. I've read that the pH levels are very difficult to control artificially but I still wasn't sure if there was anything I should be doing to start off on the right foot. My pH out of the tap appears to be normal at around 7.6 which I believe is fine for the tropical fish I am interested in.

My plan is to start off with the very simple fish like zebra danios which I hear are a popular starter fish. I would also like to do some fish that are colorful like platies. If I can successfully do this then I'd love to get a larger aquarium going and eventually work my way into saltwater territory. I know its more complicated but I love the larger colorful fish and the possibility of doing live rock/coral stuff too.