Yet Another Fishless Cycle Question!

[RussB00]

Greetings all,
Apologies in advance if you guys have answered this question so often that you're sick of it, but here goes anyway. I've been cycling our aquarium for about a month now. It's an Aquastart 320T, quite small about 35L. According to the API test kit the ammonia level dropped to zero yesterday (which is good I guess) and the nitrite level is above 5ppm. I'm assuming this is a nitrite spike and I should add some more ammonia. Unfortunately I don't have any ammonia, right at the beginning I used my 7 year old's urine! I then went on holiday and left it to its own devices. Then, when we returned, we water changed enough to bring the ammonia down to 4ppm, which has taken abot a fortnight to get to zero. I'm pretty reluctant to use the same method to add more ammonia but I have not been able to find any locally. So, my question is basically, how long have I got before I need to add more ammonia?
Thanks for reading.

 

[fluttermoth]

If you can't source any pure ammonia, then add some fish food or a prawn to the tank; that'll rot down and provide the ammonia for your cycle. You want to get something in there within a day or two, or you will start to lose a significant amount of the bacteria you've built up.

We've had a lot of people on here ask about cycling with urine, but you're the first person who's actually done it, as far as I know! Good for you!

 

[HayzH]

Greetings all,
Apologies in advance if you guys have answered this question so often that you're sick of it, but here goes anyway. I've been cycling our aquarium for about a month now. It's an Aquastart 320T, quite small about 35L. According to the API test kit the ammonia level dropped to zero yesterday (which is good I guess) and the nitrite level is above 5ppm. I'm assuming this is a nitrite spike and I should add some more ammonia. Unfortunately I don't have any ammonia, right at the beginning I used my 7 year old's urine! I then went on holiday and left it to its own devices. Then, when we returned, we water changed enough to bring the ammonia down to 4ppm, which has taken abot a fortnight to get to zero. I'm pretty reluctant to use the same method to add more ammonia but I have not been able to find any locally. So, my question is basically, how long have I got before I need to add more ammonia?
Thanks for reading.

Hi...What you are aiming for is the Ammonia AND Nitrites to return to 0 in a 12 hr period, you dont add when you went on holiday (ie how long ago).
without continually adding the ammonia the cycle will just "stall"..putting a halt to the cycle process.
Ammonia is readily Avaliable online ...just google Jeyes Ammonia household cleaner, also avaliable at boots online and can be delivered to the store. also from homebase i believe..

it can take up to 6 weeks to cycle your filter...dont make it longer than need be...Good information on Cycling is in the beginners section of this forum xx
Good Luck xx

 

[RussB00]

If you can't source any pure ammonia, then add some fish food or a prawn to the tank; that'll rot down and provide the ammonia for your cycle. You want to get something in there within a day or two, or you will start to lose a significant amount of the bacteria you've built up.

We've had a lot of people on here ask about cycling with urine, but you're the first person who's actually done it, as far as I know! Good for you!

Many thanks, looks like that's monday spent trawling around various branches of Boots!

 

[RussB00]

Greetings all,
Apologies in advance if you guys have answered this question so often that you're sick of it, but here goes anyway. I've been cycling our aquarium for about a month now. It's an Aquastart 320T, quite small about 35L. According to the API test kit the ammonia level dropped to zero yesterday (which is good I guess) and the nitrite level is above 5ppm. I'm assuming this is a nitrite spike and I should add some more ammonia. Unfortunately I don't have any ammonia, right at the beginning I used my 7 year old's urine! I then went on holiday and left it to its own devices. Then, when we returned, we water changed enough to bring the ammonia down to 4ppm, which has taken abot a fortnight to get to zero. I'm pretty reluctant to use the same method to add more ammonia but I have not been able to find any locally. So, my question is basically, how long have I got before I need to add more ammonia?
Thanks for reading.

Hi...What you are aiming for is the Ammonia AND Nitrites to return to 0 in a 12 hr period, you dont add when you went on holiday (ie how long ago).
without continually adding the ammonia the cycle will just "stall"..putting a halt to the cycle process.
Ammonia is readily Avaliable online ...just google Jeyes Ammonia household cleaner, also avaliable at boots online and can be delivered to the store. also from homebase i believe..

it can take up to 6 weeks to cycle your filter...dont make it longer than need be...Good information on Cycling is in the beginners section of this forum xx
Good Luck xx

Thanks for the advice, until now, ammonia had always been out of stock in Boots when I looked! I went on holiday for a week six weeks ago so the cycling has been going since then.

 

[CezzaXV]

I've heard on these forums that Boots don't sell ammonia in their stores - you have to order it in specially.

If you look in the beginners resource centre, there is a section on where you can find ammonia

 

[RussB00]

I've heard on these forums that Boots don't sell ammonia in their stores - you have to order it in specially.

If you look in the beginners resource centre, there is a section on where you can find ammonia

Nice one, looks like Homebase for me then.