Hello everyone,
I am doing my first fishless cycle using ammonia and have a question about whether or not the parameters I am getting make sense.
So I set everything up yesterday afternoon and added a sponge filter and a filter sponge (and a bunch of plant cuttings) from my established tank and then added around 3.5 ml of pure ammonia to start the cycle.
The parameters yesterday were 0ppm for nitrite and between 3 and 4ppm for ammonia and ph of 7.8 (didn't test nitrates because figured it would be too early)
Today, I went to test my ammonia again today to make sure it didn't spike or drop in 24 hours (even though the how too says do nothing lol) but the parameters I got back were a little surprising, maybe?
ammonia 1.5ppm, nitrites .25ppm, nitrates 5ppm and ph dropped a bit to ph 7.4.
Temp has been 80 to 82 degrees - trying to get these to stabilize around 78-80
Am I on the right track? Is the appearance of both nitrates and nitrites normal because my tank is seeded? Anything more I should do? When do I do my first water change?
I am doing my first fishless cycle using ammonia and have a question about whether or not the parameters I am getting make sense.
So I set everything up yesterday afternoon and added a sponge filter and a filter sponge (and a bunch of plant cuttings) from my established tank and then added around 3.5 ml of pure ammonia to start the cycle.
The parameters yesterday were 0ppm for nitrite and between 3 and 4ppm for ammonia and ph of 7.8 (didn't test nitrates because figured it would be too early)
Today, I went to test my ammonia again today to make sure it didn't spike or drop in 24 hours (even though the how too says do nothing lol) but the parameters I got back were a little surprising, maybe?
ammonia 1.5ppm, nitrites .25ppm, nitrates 5ppm and ph dropped a bit to ph 7.4.
Temp has been 80 to 82 degrees - trying to get these to stabilize around 78-80
Am I on the right track? Is the appearance of both nitrates and nitrites normal because my tank is seeded? Anything more I should do? When do I do my first water change?