'snail-In Cycle'

[JoelHoare]

I was going to do a fish-less cycle with a planted aquarium had everything set up for a couple of weeks and then started adding ammonia. Saw that the ammonia levels were sky high! I think this was due to the snails that came in on the plants! So I've been doing water changes to bring the ammonia down and now its at 1ppm. Also, Nitrite is at 2ppm and Nitrate is all the way up to 100ppm! Is this a good sign that the bacteria is starting to process the Ammonia and my cycle is up and running? I assume i'm just to monitor it and change the water if ammonia gets above 3ppm and wait until I get 0 Ammonia and Nitrite and and small levels of Nitrate? 
 
FYI - my previous test which was 24 hours and a 40% water change earlier had 5ppm Ammonia, 0.25ppm Nitrite and traces of Nitrate...

 

[JoelHoare]

Tested today and got 0.5 Ammonia, 4 Nitriite and 120 Nitrate...Not sure what to do next...feed some ammonia? wait?

 

[Madness13]

Keep a maintained level of around 2 - 3 ammonia after ammonia starts breaking down. Just check it every 2 days and see what readings you get.
 
Ammonia will drop as it has in your case, nitrite will rise (keep feeding ammonia through the entire process, maintaining the 2 - 3 level) and then nitrates will rise. Feeding the cycle ammonia will ensure your "cycle" doesn't just stop. Don't worry about the high nitrates because a water change at the end of the cycle will fix that.
 
When you add ammonia and it converts into nitrite and then nitrate within 12 - 24 hours then you'll be okay to add fish.
 
In the end you're reading will be ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrates 10 - 40 (rough estimate).

 

[TwoTankAmin]

You have been told to add way too much ammonia and for sure that can and will screw things up royally. Therefore I would suggest instead you follow the advice in the cycling section on this site which you can find here http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first
 
Just as an FYI-
 
1, It takes about 6 additions of ammonia to get the average tank cycled and none of these should exceed 3 ppm.
2. Ammonia levels over about 6.4 ppm on and API or similar type test kit to stall a cycle and start to harm the bacteria.
3. Nitrite levels over 16 ppm on similar brand hobby kits will have the same effect on the bacteria.
4. Most hobby nitrite test kits do not read as high as 16 ppm.
5. 1 ppm of ammonia in an unplanted tank becomes 2.55 ppm of nitrite.  the more ammonia one adds and has disappear, the more nitrite there is until the nitrite oxidizingf bacteria catch up to the ammonia ones.
6. Lightly planted tanks need some cycling, heavily planted tanks do not.
 
The fact that you are able to see the level of nitrites you have in your tank means that it is not all that heavily planted. When plants consume ammonia no nitrite is produced. This is only done by the bacteria.

 

[JoelHoare]

Cool,m sounds good then. Out of interest, how do you know how much ammonia I have added? Cause I followed the guide you attached...Thanks