Newbie Aquarist

[indigoj]

parts per million

 

[OldMan47]

Ppm is sometimes listed as mg/l, milligrams per litre, depending on who makes your test kit. Both numbers are almost exactly he same and with the accuracy that we are able to get they are identical. During a fishless cycle you start by trying to establish about 4 or 5 ppm at first. Once you have some bacteria processing the ammonia to nitrites you cut back to only adding 2 ppm until the nitrite is being processed through to nitrate. It is as simple as that and all of the minor problems that people encounter along the way would take pages and pages to explain. If you have a chance to read through the posts and think you understand them, come back and we will answer any questions you might have, unless of course your questions are very very original. One of those might take a few minutes of thought to figure out and answer. We deal with lots of questions daily that are very confusing to the people posting them but seem easy once you really get a grasp of a fishless or a fish-in cycle. In a month or two, that could be you taking the hard / easy questions.

 

[ellena]

yeah I have a filter and I have added something called filter-start to the sponge to give it the good bacteria
it needs to start off. I have set the heater to about 24 degrees and I have been cycling for 5 days so I am
probably getting it in 2 days but I just need to adjust the ph because it is 8.5 and I want it at 7. I think I have fixed
the cloudiness (just gave it a 25% water change) and it seems to be clearing up and i will take a water sample to the
fish shop today to see what else it needs. It's not more than enough space but its so much better than the tiny little bowls the pet-shop keep them in. Thanks alot for your support guys, has been really helpful
(p.s. Any tips on introducing a betta to the tank or just generally keeping a betta?) Thanks guys

Correct me if I'm worng, but I don't think you're doing an actual fishless cycle. When you say cycling, do you mean it's just sat there all switched on and running? If so, that's doing nothing. It could sit there like that for months and nothing would change.
A fishless cycle involves putting ammonia in the tank from a bottle to mimic fish waste and grow up bacteria in the filter. You measure the levels of ammonia and nitrites daily to follow the progress. It can take 3 months.
There is also fish in cycling which with one betta in a tank that size would be doable, but you'll be changing water daily for anything up to 3 months again.
Please read the stickies at the top of this forum before you actually buy a fish