Fishless Cycle Question

[toshapetriji]

One week into a fishless cycle and I need some clarification.

I am adding ammonia to 4ppm which is processing in around 10 hours. Nitrates are off the scale and Nitrate is around 80 currently so everything seems to be going in the right direction.

My question is

Do I add more ammonia as soon as the level drops to zero? Or, am I supposed to add ammonia only once a day? The instructions seem a little unclear on this.

Thanks

 

[martyn413]

Hi Toshapetriji,

You should add ammonia every 24 hours once the ammonia has been dropping from 5ppm to 0 in 12 hours.

BTW Welcome to the site. I'm sure you'll find it very useful and in time will be sharing your knowledge with others.

Martyn

 

[toshapetriji]

Hi Martyn, thanks for the quick reply. I have been adding the ammonia as soon as it has processed. Will this have caused a problem?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

nope shouldn't have caused any issues except you'll have a massive amount of nitrite, i'd recommend a large water change (80/90%) and then starting to add your 5ppm per day.

 

[toshapetriji]

Thanks Misswiggle I´ll get onto it now.

Oh bye the way you are a fish God.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

lol, i'll take that as a compliment

 

[simonmac2]

thanks MW, M413 et al,

i too am [thankfully] at the ammonia dropping to 0 stage and had exactly the same query.

9ml of ammonia in tonight to bring it back up to 5 (mis-read the instructions and will only take it to 4ppm tomorrow). Nitrite goes purple immediately - so as per the instructions.

plus the tank is starting to look a bit "manky" i.e. algae on the inside of the glass - am assuming that this is due to the perfect bacteria growing conditions i have now cultivated...

looking forward to another week and a half of this hopefully.

Simon

 

[waterdrop]

Once your ammonia is dropping to zero but your nitrites are staying spiked at a high level, there will usually be a pretty long stretch of time like this. During this time it is not really necessary to keep pouring in 4-5ppm every day, as instead you can add 2-3ppm of ammonia so that nitrites and nitrates won't build so rapidly. At some point, probably after your patience has been tried, your nitrates will finally drop to zero and will be taking nearly 24 hours to do so. At this point you can ease back up toward 4-5ppm, such that in the end you can process 4-5ppm ammonia to zero ammonia and nitrites in 12 hours, which is the ultimate test.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[toshapetriji]

Thank you Waterdrop.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

plus the tank is starting to look a bit "manky" i.e. algae on the inside of the glass - am assuming that this is due to the perfect bacteria growing conditions i have now cultivated...

don't be scared to give the tank a little clean, just leave the filter alone but you can gravel vac, wipe the glass etc..... good practice to do it a bit before getting fish.

 

[toshapetriji]

I changed 90% of the water, did a bit of hoovering and cleaned the glass etc. MMM much fresher.

Tested the water again this morning.

Ammonia 0.5
Nitrite 2.0

didn´t check Nitrate though.

come on bacteria get a move on.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, I think that regular cleanings of this sort, without disturbing the filter, are especially good in the later stages of fishless cycling -- not only refreshes the water to better conditions for growing bacteria but also gives the beginner valuable practice at tank maintenance prior to fish.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[toshapetriji]

Yes Waterdrop. Being new to the hobby this sort of maintenance actually gives you a little confidence as well. Makes the waiting easier too. Thanks for your comments BTW.

 

[waterdrop]

your welcome toshapetriji (I think my hair feels like it looks like your betta this early in the morning...)