Yet Another Cycling Question

[Teri]

Ok, so I've got a smallish tank, set up with sand, filter, plants etc etc, (no fish obviously),and a bottle of pure ammonia. How much ammonia do I need to add (in ml, please),each day? Also, doI need to do a 100% water change before I eventually put the fishes in? The tank is approx 75 x 35 x 30 cm.
When I set up my current tank, nobody mentioned "cycling" to me, so I want to do it properly this time. I had a lot of deaths the first time due to not knowing what I was doing.
Many thanx

 

[scorphonic]

You will probably only be putting in less than 0.5ml. Nobody can really tell you how much to put in as each tank is different sizes, different ammonia solutions etc..

Just put in three drops and test the water after about 10 to 20 minutes (whenever you feel that the stuff has mixed with the water). If its not at around 6ppm put in more until you get to about 6ppm. DONT put in too much since if you go above maybe 8ppm it just takes too darn long to reduce (and with most test kits you cannot see any change until it goes below 6ppm)

A 100% water change is not necessary if your nitrates are not that high in the first place. I only had to do a 50% change to get mine to 5ppm and I've only had to do 25% changes every week since.

Glad to hear that your "doing things right!"

 

[Frost]

your tank is about the same size as mine, maybe 2 gallons smaller. When i first started my fishless cycle i completely messed it up by trying to add the pure amonia in mililitres. I put about 5ml in and it ended up that when i tested my amonia with the api master kit the test tube almost went black there was so much amonia.

I cant stress enough how important it is to get a little dropper and use that! (my tank i needed to put in 35 drops to get to 5ppm)

If you have a bucket or a watering can with a measure on it. Try addind amonia to that slowly (counting amount of drops as you go), testing every now and then until you get the desired ppm. Then multiply the bucket size to get the amount you would need in your tank.

Don't do what i did and just pour amonia willy nilly into your tank as I had to do 150% water change before i got my amonia back down to a readable level.

 

[scorphonic]

And just to reinforce my statement about not knowing how much to put in...Frost had to put in 35 drops to get to 5ppm while I only had to put in 10 drops!! I was using research grade ammonia so its dangerously potent...hence the difference.

 

[rdd1952]

Your tank is about 20 gallons. The amount of ammonia needed varys depending on the strength of the ammonia and the size of the medicine dropper you are using but I would think 1 ml or less would probably do the trick for your tank. The best way to find out is to run a bucket full of tap water and then start adding drops (or if you have measuring spoons, use those to measure like an 8th of a tsp). Once you add some, swirl the water good with your hand to mix it and then test. Unless you go over 5 or 6 ppm the first time, you should be able to figure out how much you need for your tank. Keep in mind though that even though your tank is 20 gallons, you don't have that much water in it because of displacement by substrate, filters, heater, decorations, etc. So if 10 drops for example, raises the 5 gallon bucket to 5 ppm, adding 40 drops will put your tank over 5 ppm. You would be better off with 30 and then add a slight bit more if needed.

Once the cycle is complete, the reason for doing a water change is to remove nitrates. It really depends on how long the cycle takes and how high the nitrates get as to how large the water change will need to be. Usually 75% will easily get you down to where you need to be unless your tap water has a high nitrate level in which case, you may have to do more.

 

[scorphonic]

Good idea Rdd but I wouldn't recommend putting your hand into the water containing ammonia. Ammonia is Toxic and Corrosive, ok its only going to be 6ppm or a bit more or less...but still, these things do add up!

Its a great idea to test using a bucket alright, saves you having to do what Frost had to do!

 

[Teri]

Ok, it's starting to make sense...I think!!
Just a few more questions tho.. Do I need to run the filter all the while this is happening? And will the live plants be still be ok,or should I take them out, and just use the fake ones til cycling's complete?
After I've added the ammonia, is it right that I just test the water everyday until the ammonia is down to 0, and then it's ok to add the fishes?



(Tank size is actually 75 x 40 x 30, I just took 5cm off the height to allow for sand etc)

 

[Barb82]

Yes you need to leave the filter running that's the whole point, it's where your bacteria are going to be.

 

[Jozlyn]

Read this http/www.fishforums.net/Fishless-Cycling-t113861.html should answer all your questions