New Tank Starting

[Schmill]

Ok, well here goes, firstly a summary of my 'welcome' thread.

Got 60L tank filled, and with gravel substrate, in-tank Interpet P2 pump/filter, 100w heater, bubble stone ornament, and 6 live plants.

Managed to find this place BEFORE getting fish, so thought I'd give the fishless cycling a go, made one mistake though, started by using the API Strips, got the following results from them:

			 GH	KH   PH		  No2-   No3-   Ammonia
Tap Water	180   240  8.0		  0	 80		0
Tank Water   180   240  9.0		  0	 80		0

The high Nitrates, even in the tap water seemed to indicate the test strips weren't working well, so tonight I went out and got the API Freshwater Master kit and did the tests in that, which gave the more reasonable results as per below:

			 GH	KH   PH		  No2-   No3-   Ammonia
Tap Water	 ?	 ?   7.2 / 7.4	0	 40		0  (10-April)
Tank Water	?	 ?   7.6 / 8.0	0	 40		0  (10-April)

(pH has two readings as the first is using the pH Test, the second is the High pH Test)

Hopefully I'll be getting my ammonia tomorrow, and then I will update this thread with my results as I do each test, and hopefully leave a trail for others, (and get some guidance myself along the way!)

 

[AngelOfDeath]

good idea with the fishless cycle

I found it easier and less stressful than performing a fish-in cycle

 

[Schmill]

Well peeps, got my ammonia from Boots today, and it's all good.

Put in the amount calculated by the helpful calculator at the top of this page, and it was spot on 5ppm

As a side note, a little tip for anyone who does get the Boots ammonia. Whilst in there if they have a dispensing chemist ask for a childrens medicine syringe. There might be a small charge, but also they might just give it to you.
It takes 1ml in total, and is marked of at mojor intervals of 0.1ml and minor marks of a tenth of that, 0.01ml.

Just thought I'd mention it as it makes it VERY easy to put the correct amount into the tank without any of this silly drop-counting nonsense that people say about
I struggle to watch the drips going into the test kits, so trying to count 40 or 50 drips of ammonia seems like a nightmare to me!

Well, just a little tip that will hopefully help others, and I'll post more test results as I do them. Currently sitting at about 4-5ppm Ammonia, which makes me happy for now

 

[Schmill]

		  GH	KH   PH		  No2-   No3-   Ammonia
10-April   ?	 ?   7.2 / 7.4	0	 40		0  (Tap Water)
10-April   ?	 ?   7.6 / 8.0	0	 40		0  (Tank Water)
11-April										  5  (Added Ammonia)
14-April										  2
15-April						  5			   1  (Ammonia low, so tested for Nitrites, and found some :) )
												  6  (Added ammonia, calc to give 4ppm, seems to have gone >4 but <8 according to api!)

Is the Ammonia testing with the API master kits, very much guess work? Once it goes above 4, the next 'colour' is 8ppm, so I've had to guess at 6...

Also, I might have done something wrong here, perhaps someone can tell me.
The first time I added ammonia I used the calculator on this site, giving 49L of water, a 5ppm target, and using 9.5% solution, and the value it gave me (2.58ml) once added to the tank seemed to be spot on for just 'a bit more green' than 4ppm.
However this time I figured I already had 1ppm in the tank water, and wanted to get it up to 4ppm, so filled all the details in on the calculator, but this time gave a target of 3ppm (difference between what I have, and what I wanted), which gave me 1.55ml. I've added that but I'm fairly sure this time it's gone stronger than 4ppm, (hence my guess work result in the table above!)

 

[backtotropical]

Hi Schmill,

Welcome to TFF. Good to have you aboard.

Firstly, congrats on doing a fishless cycle. Many don't and its always good to see newbies taking the care of their fish seriously. Well done you!

I find that the test kits generally involve a lot of guesswork between colours too. It sounds like you have used the ammonia calculator correctly and i would suggest that it is more accurate than your test kit, so i wouldn't worry too much. You could actually monitor your test kit's reliability with it. It may have been that you had a bit more than 1ppm when you added again.

Probably best to top up to 4ppm if the colour for that is marked on your test kit. It'll just nake things a bit easier and is still sufficient for a fishless cycle.

The only other thing i can think of is to maybe shake the ammonia bottle before use to ensure it is evenly mixed.

Cheers

BTT

P.S. Good tip about the medicine syringe. I'll recommend that in future.