My First Test Results

[Harlequins]

Unless you ph crashes below 6 you dont need to do any water changes on a fishless cycle.

You are going through a nitrite spike at the moment,this will eventually clear itself.

Are you adding ammonia when your ammonia reading is zero?

In theory you need to have 7 clear days of your ammonia and nitrite being zero,this is classed as a qualifying week,if these remains zero after you've added ammonia after 12 hours and haven't done any water changes in that 7 days then you will be cycled.
Sometimes it takes longer for the nitrite to disappear then it does the ammonia.

 

[chigwellhammer]

Well my tank has been setup for over a week and has had fish food added and biomature and then left for 2 days and today i then did the test and they are the results

 

[Harlequins]

To get a better and consistant reading,i would use neat ammonia to the measured dose to 'feed' your filter...

 

[chigwellhammer]

So i should add my biomature to my filter now then?

 

[SlyPolak]

DANG, sorry for telling you to do the water changes from the beginning, at first I thought you had fish in the tank thats why when I saw the readings of NI I was like WATER CHANGE NEEDED!!!!!!

 

[chigwellhammer]

Lol dont worry , have i now buggered up my tank ?

 

[SlyPolak]

I don't think so... just wait for "H" and you will get the right answer... If you have an AM reading of 0 you should add some ammonia in the tank to see how long it takes for it to disappear.

And if the "biomature" is bottled bacteria I don't think lots of people believe it will do anything to your tank... I mean how is the bacteria alive in the bottle for weeks without any food??

 

[chigwellhammer]

Dont ask me fella, I struggle to do a simple test with instruction booklet!

 

[SlyPolak]

If you're still cycling and you just did that water change because of my dumb self (SORRY) and theres no ammonia you should add some now to keep your filter alive

AMMONIA = Food for bacteria

 

[chigwellhammer]

So should i add a pinch of fish food into my tank?

 

[SlyPolak]

Like "H" said, you should go get some actual ammonia from a hardware store or something... just make sure it has no additives or scents, just ammonia and maybe water

I don't know if this is true but I don't think food turns into ammonia until it really starts rotting,(don't know how long that takes) and I imagine it would be real hard to regulate the amount of ammonia that you are putting in. Theres a calculator on top that will tell you how much ammonia to add tho..
I think you would be better off finding a raw shrimp or some fish as a source but if you have nothing else then yes I would add some fish food if I were you

 

[chigwellhammer]

Everyone keeps telling me different! lol sooo confusing. Ill add a pinch of fish food now then.

 

[chigwellhammer]

Right thats done, Im going college at 1 and should be home about half 3 - 4 ? so when i get back do i do all the test again or just the nitrite.

 

[SlyPolak]

I would do atleast the AM and NI... when cycling NA isnt important and PH is because if it drops waay low youre in trouble but i dont think you haveto check as often as AM and NI

Check the AM and NI and see what your readings are....when fishless cycling you NEED AM and NI.. also, I guess you will see if the food is producing a sufficent of ammonia

 

[chigwellhammer]

When you say AM and NI im guessing you mean Ammonia and Nitrite.