Started My Cycle.....

[Fruba]

I added ammonia to my tank on saturday using a medical syringe, its 30 litres, i added 1.5ml of ammonia like it said to in the calculater

Ive tested my ammonia and its reading around 8ppm. I read in the cycling thread that if it gets this high it is a waste of time?

should i try changing alot or all of the water?

 

[rabbut]

I'd do a 50% change to get it to 4ppm. At 8, the ammonia oxidising bacteria start to struggle, thus is slow or even stalls the cycle. It is 8ppm isn't it, thats not just the highest on your card?
All the best
Rabbut

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yes, it should be closer to 5ppm, do a water change to bring it down then re-adjust it if need be.

there's sometimes a bit of varience with the calculations cos the amount of water you're tank holds when empty is not the same as when you had it filled with ornaments, decor, substrate etc etc in.

 

[Fruba]

balls, come to think of it, it did only take 25 litres to fill it up. i`ll do a 50% change and let you know

thanks for the quick reply

 

[Fruba]

I done a 50% water change and we are currently sitting around 3-4ppm.

Let the waiting begin

 

[gaz gun man]

Also check your ammonia bottle to make sure the % of ammonia in the solution is the same as the default in the calculator (9.5%)

 

[iankent]

Also check your ammonia bottle to make sure the % of ammonia in the solution is the same as the default in the calculator (9.5%)

this shouldn't be too much of an issue - in the UK you need a license to sell ammonia of 10% concentration or more, which is why its commonly sold at 9.5%! if the percentage is lower than the expected 9.5% we'd see lower than 5ppm not higher, but yes I agree its still worth checking

(Fruba - I'm assuming your in the UK because your local time is the same as mine )

 

[gaz gun man]

Also check your ammonia bottle to make sure the % of ammonia in the solution is the same as the default in the calculator (9.5%)

this shouldn't be too much of an issue - in the UK you need a license to sell ammonia of 10% concentration or more, which is why its commonly sold at 9.5%! if the percentage is lower than the expected 9.5% we'd see lower than 5ppm not higher, but yes I agree its still worth checking

(Fruba - I'm assuming your in the UK because your local time is the same as mine )

ah ok cheers, I didnt know you needed documentation for a higher concentration

 

[waterdrop]

Also check your ammonia bottle to make sure the % of ammonia in the solution is the same as the default in the calculator (9.5%)

this shouldn't be too much of an issue - in the UK you need a license to sell ammonia of 10% concentration or more, which is why its commonly sold at 9.5%! if the percentage is lower than the expected 9.5% we'd see lower than 5ppm not higher, but yes I agree its still worth checking

(Fruba - I'm assuming your in the UK because your local time is the same as mine )

In the US its common to find clear household ammonia in the grocery stores and elsewhere that is not labeled for percent and is in fact a lower percent than 9.5% - have been surprised to watch the UK posters sounding like its so likely that the 9.5% is true. Luckily, RDD was smart to go with the testing/verification process in the fishless article - always better to see what the ppm actually ended up being, rather than getting too sure the a milliliter amount will be right.

 

[iankent]

In the US its common to find clear household ammonia in the grocery stores and elsewhere that is not labeled for percent and is in fact a lower percent than 9.5% - have been surprised to watch the UK posters sounding like its so likely that the 9.5% is true. Luckily, RDD was smart to go with the testing/verification process in the fishless article - always better to see what the ppm actually ended up being, rather than getting too sure the a milliliter amount will be right.

I added all of my ammonia based on my calculations, and luckily it worked out spot on every time (i did a quick test after each add) - as long as you know the exact % concentration of your ammonia, and the volume of water you have, science will get it right every time (whether you get your measurements right is another thing )

but I agree waterdrop - checking afterwards is always a good idea, especially as we're aiming for a relatively small bandwidth (3 - 6ppm ammonia, too high or low will slow probably down cycling), so using an "add and hope for the best" method would be quite risky!

edit: in theory you could evaporate the water from the ammonia product, which in the type of ammonia we're using should leave just ammonia at the bottom. you could then weigh this and mix with the correct amount of water to get whatever % ammonia you want! (iirc if you add 100 grams NH3 (ammonia) to 1 litre H2O (water) you get approx 10% ammonia product - sounds right )
edit 2: you could also dilute it 50/50 repeatedly until its measurable with your ammonia test, then do the math

 

[gaz gun man]

I think when I was cycling, the calculator worked my ammonia out at something like 6.58mls

I just used the test tubes out of my levels kit which has a line a 5mls and filled it to the line.
as I started eating ammonia within 12 hours I upped the amount slightly.

 

[iankent]

I just used the test tubes out of my levels kit which has a line a 5mls and filled it to the line.

I did exactly the same it's a shame they dont just mark each ml on there rather than just 5mls!

 

[gaz gun man]

yeah it is!

still we managed though

I was considering getting a measuring thingy from ebay, but the test tube did the job

 

[iankent]

yeah it is!

still we managed though

I was considering getting a measuring thingy from ebay, but the test tube did the job

turns out a 1ml pipette came with the snail killer I bought a few weeks back, so on the rare occasion I've needed to, I've used that to measure out more accurately!

 

[OldMan47]

For accurate measurements you can get a medicine dropper. They are often well marked up to about 5 ml.