lilsoccakid

maybe its just because m so impatient, but after a week of cycling my 20 gallon i have seen no change in nitrite and nitrate levals. i have been adding 100% ammonia daily, and keeping my water temp at 80 degrees, any ways of speeding this process up? thanks for ur help!

Kevin

well...you could add some feeder fish (really cheap, but will poop all over the place to help out)

you might want to take a sample of your water into petsmart(free ) or your LFS(usually free) and ask them to test it for you...sometimes the home test kits aren't very accurate
let me know if there's anything else i can help u with

Kevin

lilsoccakid

thanks kevin! right now my ammonia levals are pretty high from adding 10 drops daily. is it uncommon for a 20 gal tank to now show any nitrite or nitrate levals after a week? or am i just not being patient? thanks

ps, i just checked out my ammonia, and it is ammonia hydroxide, will this be fine for cycling the tank?

Kevin

it's hard to say, i'm also new to this...but i've done my research and the other people on FL have helped me a TON

everybody's tanks are different...i cant tell how long it will take for your nitrite to show up, but i would try lowering the ammonia you are adding...maybe 5 or 6 drops and see if that has any effects(veterans correct me if i'm wrong )
Kevin

o...and next time your going to be near a LFS, have them test your water and compare their readings to your's...just to see if your kit is correct

lilsoccakid

sounds good, thanks for your help!

COBettaCouple

each cycle is different and sometimes the ammonia spike takes a while before you start reading nitrites. the best way to test your water is with a liquid kit like the API master freshwater kit. the strip tests are famously inaccurate and quite often are what the pet stores use. (they're also are more expensive per test).

what is your ammonia reading? i'm not sure if ammonia hydroxide will work or not but i think you need to 'feed' the tank every 12 hours with the ammonia source (either pure ammonia or fish flakes) to keep it going. Have you read: http://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm? it's a pretty good page on the cycle and cycling fishless.

lilsoccakid

after about 5 days of adding ammonia, my reading is currently at .9

musicman4567

When I cycled my 10 gallon tank, it took me a good 3 weeks before I even saw nitrites. that was with ammonia around 1 PPM-1.5 ppm. I think the key here is just patience.

lilsoccakid

yea thats what i was thinking, its just hard sitting around for weeks not being able to start my tank! thanks for your help!

sgould

I agree...no need for concern yet, it is still early in the process.

Luniyn

Yes that is fine as long as it says Pure Ammonia Hydroxide or 100% Ammonia Hydroxide... or if it just says ammonia hydroxide and also does not have any other ingredients (surfactants, perfumes, or colorants (dyes, etc.)) listed then you are fine.