not4you

I thought I'd start a new thread about this as I'm sure I'll have a few more questions about fishless cycling in the coming weeks.

I added ammonia to my 55 and 10 last night and ended up with a 7.5 PPM in the 10 gal. and a 6 ppm in the 55 gal. From what I've read you want to shoot for about 5 ppm and maintain this until you see nitrites then cut the dose in half. Should I do PWC on each tank to bring them down closer to 5 ppm or will it be fine at the current levels?

I aimed for 5 ppm in the tanks but I guess my calculations were a little off. I'm fine tuning my ammonia to water ratio for future ammonia doses.

Any thoughts on the current ammonia levels?

Thanks
8)

Jon

maybe in the 10 gallon but 6 ppm isnt bad.. amonia naturally spikes at up to 8 with a fishy cycle so i wouldnt be too conscerned just adjust the amount of amonia you add in future doses.

0morrokh

It shouldn't really matter, although remember the more ammonia you put in, the more nitrates you will get, so you will have to do a larger water change before adding fish.

not4you

Water changes are no problem with my new python

I think I'll just leave them where they are now and keep checking the levels over the next few days.

Jon

yeah the lvls are fine... its not like there are any fish in the aquaria that would die from it... GL with your fshlss cycle

not4you

I bought the AP Freshwater Master test kit today because I spilled the first part of my old ammonia kit. So I tested all of my tanks when I got home and the good news is the 20 gallon is fine but the pH in my cycling tanks has seem to gone up. Here's the timeline:

10 Gallon
2/19 - ph 7.3 (same as tap and 20 gallon tank)
2/20 - brought ammonia up to 7.5 ppm, did not test pH
2/22 - ammonia probably closer to 8 ppm, pH is now 8.1

55 Gallon
2/19 - pH 7.3
2/20 - brought ammonia up to 6 ppm, did not test pH
2/22 - ammonia still 6 ppm, pH now 7.9

- Did I add too much ammonia?
- Should I be concerned about the rise in pH?
- Should I do a PWC to bring down the ammonia closer to 5 ppm?

slider

Your pH should settle down once the cycle has finished.....though mine did stay at a constant 7.2 though out the fishless cycle

EmpPleco

This is what I did and it worked really well:

When I did a fishless cycle I put "ammonia" in it also. My ammonia levels (after a week got up to 8 ppm. I did not start doing water changes, until I got a spike of 5 ppm of nitrite (this told me that beneficial bacteria was forming.. I kept doing 25% water changes daily for 2 weeks, until my nitrite and ammonia was at 0 and my nitrate was at 15 ppm. This took 2 weeks. Worked perfectly and ready to add fish after 3 weeks, fully cycled.

I wouldn't suggest doing partial water changes until you see a dramatic spike in nitrites. High ammonia feeds the "good" bacteria, and thus creates more of it. Good Luck !! glad to see you are doing a fishless cycle

not4you

Okay I'll hold off on water changes and wait for the nitrites to spike. I was just a little surprised at the recent pH readings. I guess once it's cycled the pH will balance out like slider said.

not4you

Woo Hoo

The process has already started, .25 ppm Nitrite today in the 10 and 55