prairielilly

Parts per million. That's why I converted things to millilitres, it was easier to work in so many millilitres per million millilitres.

A 'millilitre' (mL) is one-one thousandth of a litre (there's a thousand millilitres in a litre). A gallon is 3.79 litres (L).

...that's too many millis in one post. Sorry

By the way no such thing as an idiotic question

Je55*e

OP wrote "Also, you will need to add extra aeration via an air stone and air pump".
If I have live plants in the tank, do I still need to add the air stone/pump?

agabr123

should mean parts per million

Je55*e

Thanks, Alex. Though... that's still confusing to me. Fractions? Oy^^;;;

agabr123

lol, yeah i'm not a math person......

agabr123

depends how many, if it's really really heavily planted then probably not, but to be safe i'd add one anyways

namehater

thanks for the info! time to start shopping for some ammonia now.

Ricardo_NY1

Not sure if this has been done here, but I think Ammonia brands should be listed along with how much of it was needed to get that initial 5-6 parts reading. I started a new tank today and things were as follows.......

20 Gallon Long
Ammonia Brand "Austin's Clear Ammonia"
Heavily planted tank with plenty of gravel
7.5ml raised the ammonia reading to what appeared just shy of 4 parts. I added an additional 2ml and it looks like things got pushed past 4 parts to a darker shade of green on API test. Colors jump from 4 to 8 on this kit.

So it appears that a starting point for a 20 gallon tank could be 10-11ml of the above brand.


I mention the heavily planted tank with plenty of gravel because it obviously takes up volume that could've been water, hence the amount of ammonia needed would be more if that stuff was not in place.

wabash

As the algae begins to grow is there any benefit/jeopardy to the cycle if I add a few Nerite Snails to control the algae? Do high readings affect the snails?

EDIT: Google is my friend.

Water Quality
All freshwater invertebrates require good water quality in order to thrive. Most inverts will not accept poor water quality without deadly consequences soon after. Ammonia & nitrite should be zero and nitrate and phosphate in their low ranges.
As with all snails, Nerite snails need a pH above 7. Should the pH be lower than 7, i.e. acidic, this will cause their shells to corrode and dissolve into the water. Signs of acidity stress include flaky, pitted shells and deterioration of the shell spire. Another cause of these symptoms is lack of calcium. If you pH is greater than 7, and your snails are still showing signs of erosion, they may be lacking in calcium. Snailstrong Liquid Calcium is a simple and effective way to ensure your snails get enough of this essential mineral.

The above is copied from:http://www.snailshop.ashopcommerce.c...te-snail-.html

IIIHawKIII

just found some good liquid ammonia at a Do It Best Hardware store.

Company that manufactures it is Z Force. "Extra Strength Ammonia" You have to give it the shake test cause it doesn't have an ingredients section on the label. I went ahead and looked up the MSDS on the company's website and it is good to go. It is also sold under the SunBrite label as well.

Also, WalMart's "Great Value" store brand has surfactants and is NOT suitable for cycling.

ZomZom

For those searching for a supply of ammonia and inoculating bacteria, here are what I have found:

ProLine® Ammonium Chloride
One and Only Freshwater 4oz - This is the successor to Bio Spira

tropical_lizard

I still don't get it.

Oquorpahe

Ammonia can usually be found with cleaning products.

Lucy

This sticky was getting rather crowded wih questions and complicated.

Most of the quesions have been moved to their own threads and moved here:
Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle
or here:
Beginners

If you have cycling questions, please start a new thread in one of the above links.

Thanks!

small_fry

parts per million i believe

mmmxpoptarts

This article is great! I'm on my 4th week of cycling with the "add & wait" method and my nitrites are finally making a descent.