Quick Few Questions Before I Start My Fishless Cycle Thread

[FishyWishie]

Ok tank is here background is on sand is in and its full of water

Ive added the requisite amount of decholrinator how long should i let it settle before adding the first amonia (im going to do the add and wait unless anyone thinks add daily is better for a 240 l tank?

Also i seem to have been given a comp bottle of nutrafin cycle is there any point in using this ? does it actually work ?

 

[FishyWishie]

bump im not sleepy lol

 

[OldMan47]

You could add your ammonia 5 minutes after getting the dechlorinator added. The old stories about people setting up tanks for a few days before doing anything else were based on a chlorine only water treatment system where we were waiting for the chlorine to go away on its own. Yes, I am one of those old fossils who was actually around back then. We had no idea about a fishless cycle and were waiting for the chlorine to dissipate on its own before starting a fish-in cycle that would likely kill about half of our fish. (We also knew nothing about testing or chemical limits for our fish)

 

[FishyWishie]

thanks for the reply ive now added 12.63 ml of ammonia which the calc says is the right ammount for a 240 l tank i guess i better start making a pretty fishless cycle thread now

 

[waterdrop]

Give it maybe 20 minutes minimum and then test for ammonia to see whether what the calculator gave you seems to have resulted in about the ammonia concentration you were shooting for.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[FishyWishie]

Most odd water has been 8 hours ammonia in for about an hour but api test for ammonia doesnt seem to go any colour at all

 

[FishyWishie]

Its next morning and test is still showing clear for ammonia is 12.67 ml definately ok for a 240l tank ? the calculator said it was but this test seems to be indicating no ammonia at all

 

[dipsydoodlenoodle]

Its next morning and test is still showing clear for ammonia is 12.67 ml definately ok for a 240l tank ? the calculator said it was but this test seems to be indicating no ammonia at all

How old is your test? What test kit are you using? And what ammonia are you using?

 

[FishyWishie]

Its a API master kit bought about 10 days ago from Pets@home the ammonia is Homebase household amonia 9.5% with no nasty extras in it.

 

[Twinklecaz]

Thats's exactly what I have. Even if it wasn't the right amount it would at lease show some Ammonia I think. Maybe something is wrong with your kit? Take it back and get another one!

 

[FishyWishie]

I think kit must be defective i just did the amonia test on 5ml of straight ammonia and there has been a slight colour change towards a pale pale yellow but no more than that

 

[waterdrop]

Sounds like a test kit problem. In case you want to check on expiration dates I did a search looking for one of several posts we've had explaining how to do that for API kits and I found one...

Here

~~waterdrop~~

 

[FishyWishie]

Many thanks the kits expiry date is about 4 months from now could be dead i guess off to shop to pound my fist on there counter !

 

[FishyWishie]

NOTE TO SELF READ THE F'ING MANUAL!

Took kit back to shop man tested it on tank water and concurred it was dodgy and replaced it. On the 15 min drive home im ideally reading through the leaflet turns out ammonia test bottle #1 and ammonia test bottle #2 aren't merely 2 bottles of the same stuff but your meant to put 8 drops of each in lol

I feel such a clown now lol

 

[waterdrop]

Oh yes, all these tests are different from each other and some can be rather tricky in the steps to be performed. WD