Keeping A Cycled Filter Ticking Over

[ellena]

I had a betta die a couple of weeks ago and since then I have been feeding his filter with 0.5ml of ammonia daily, to keep it at 2ppm as per the calculator.
On Fri, I thought I'd better test and see if it was keeping up. I put in the 0.5ml, and tested half hour later. It was 0.5ppm. I added more ammonia and it was 4-8ppm (I really can't tell the difference between those 2 in the API kit!) Last night it was still the same, and is tonight too.
Any thoughts?
I am wanting to keep this filter cycled to use the tank as a Q tank.
Thanks

 

[Twinklecaz]

I can't hlep but totally agree about the API kit. I can't tell which is which with some of the readings either!

 

[OldMan47]

A single betta, with the huge tanks that people in the betta section seem to think they need, is not a significant bioload. By raising the concentration to 4+ ppm, you have added a huge amount to the load that your filter is accustomed to moving. It will take it some time to get that big a bacterial colony. The 0.5 ppm was probably enough to keep your filter ticking over just fine for the tiny bioload that it had been asked to deal with.

 

[ellena]

Right, thanks oldman47 Tank is about 27l. Test does look a very slightly paler shade of green today, so maybe it is dealing with it slowly. I did think there might have been a pH crash, but it's at 7.6