New Tank Setup

[adrianh33]

Hi All,

I need some advice, I have setup a new Fluval 350 Litre tank. I have added some active bacteria to the 405 filter that I have, and am now in the process of adding Amonia to speed up the multiplication of the bacteria. However, how much amonia (9.5 % solution) should I add to this much water, or at what level (ppm) should I try and get the ammonia levels up to?

As a newb, I am just trying to do this correctly.

Thanks
Adrian

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Hi and welcome to the forum.

Its good to see that you are going the fishless cycle route. It is kind of hard to give an exact measurement on exactly how much ammonia you need to use but take a look at the sticky thread in the link below which explains how to work out how much Ammonia you need to add. Ideally you want to keep it at 5ppm and once that gets processed with 12 hours you are halfway there.

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

 

[ox5477]

barney is correct. There is no precise measurment of ammonia you need to add. A good test is take a bucket (know how much water it holds) and add very small amounts of ammonia to the bucket until it has 4 to 5 ppm. Once you've done this, just scale it up to the large tank doing some simple math

Make sure too, that the ammonia your using is pure ammonia (it can be diluted in water as most all commercial ammonia is) making sure there is no color additives or scent as well as other chemicals the producing company may of added to the solution. All extra things beyond ammonia and water can be deadly once your stocking is added

 

[Tiger Barb]

You need to aim at 4-5ppm of ammonia. The maths says you need about 15ml i.e. 3 teaspoons.

15ml of 9.5% ammonia contains 15 x 0.095 = 1.425ml of ammonia i.e. 0.001425 litres

Put this into 350 litres of water and it gives a proportion of about 0.000004 i.e. 4 parts per million.

So, considering the normal accuracy of my maths.... bung in a teaspoonfull, stir, wait, test (and expect to do this up to 3 times!)

 

[adrianh33]

Thanks very much,

I had read the sticky thread and I did some simple maths, based on the fact that the thread is written I believe using american gallons. I added some 4ml, of Ammonia, which is already in solution, this gave me an Ammonia reading of 1 ppm. My maths was obviously a bit out LOL. So I shall add another 12ml and see how much this raises the level, it should keep it within 5 ppm.