wuhungsix

I am new here but have been lurking. I started my fishless cycling 10 days ago (10/27). I have been seeding the tank with 10 drops of Goodwin's Pure ammonia daily.

Yesterday (11/5) the ammonia reading was .25 before the 10 drops. After the ten drops ammonia was at 1.0. Coloration was beginning to show up on my nitrite test strips but not readable yet.

Today (11/6) My ammonia reads at .25 before my ten drops. But what is more exciting is I am finally reading Nitrites at 3.0. My question is should I drop back the ammonia now and if so how much?

BTW my stocking goal is 4-5 Dwarf Puffers and 3 Oto Cats

My tank:

20 gal @80 F
partially planted.
Lowe's gravel substrate
Tetra Whisper filter
Marineland Stealth 100w
artificial drift wood
two terracotta pots

One other issue, I have a foam and film that developed on the water's surface. I have read that it maybe cause its a new tank. Is it anything I need to worry about?
SInce a thread without pics is worthless., her you go...

Lucy

Hi welcome to Fish Lore.

Congrats on going fish-less

I believe once you have nitrites, you're supposed to cut the ammonia by 1/2.
This link might help you:
Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

The ammonia you're using, if it foams when you shake it, isn't pure ammonia and shouldn't be used for cycling.
I'm sorry, I can't remember exactly why, perhaps perfumes or other additives that could be harmful to fish.

Good luck.

wuhungsix

Yes I tried the "shake method" and get bubbles but break back down within a second. I goog'd Goodwin's Pure Ammonia and found old fishless cycling threads where others have used this brand ammonia. The stupid thing doesn't show ingredients like other ammonia's I have found with additives.

Lucy

Your tank is really nice, nice job.

I'm not sure what could be causing the foam then.

I'm sure someone else will see this thread and hopefully be able to answer your question.

Shawnie

welcome to fishlore!!! the foam could be anything from the ammonia to just being new...some more airation at the top or even a bubble wand will help that...the tank looks great tho!

wuhungsix

yea I was thinking about adding an airstone for additonal aggitation. I'm going to the LFS to buy more plants and some real driftwood. Folks at dwarfpuffer.com advised that I need more plants for the amount of puffers I am planning on stocking. Do you think that additional plants will affect my cycling process in a negative way by reducing the nitrites in the water? I know the idea is to reduce them but what if I cant read nitrites at all while testing. BTW I am going with low light plants at 1w per gal.

wuhungsix

so I have a question on my Nitrites and amount of ammonia per day.

for the last 4-5 days I have been reading Ammonia at 0 and Nitrites at 1.0ppm.
This is prior to my daily 20 drops of Ammonia. From what I have read this seems low for a Nitrite spike. I actually went from 10 drops to my current 20 drops of Ammonia because I thought I needed more to get the Nitrites up. I am actually running more Ammonia than I had when was in the first stage of the cycle.

Should I just stay at 20 drops or lower it back down too 10 drops. I am using API liquid test kit and I am starting to stare too hard at the purple on the Nitrite card. The purple shades are all starting to look the same.

Lucy

Are you getting any nitrate readings?

wuhungsix

I only have the 5 in 1 test strips for the Nitrate, and I get an approximate reading of 20ppm. The tank is medium planted (I added more since the pics) I'm not sure if the plants are keeping the Nitrates low.

Lucy

I've found the strips to be inaccurate, you might want to consider getting a liquid test kit.
My understanding is once you have nitrate readings, you should cut the amount of ammonia that you're adding in half.

Here's a link explaining it, I hope it helps.

Ammonia instructions for a fishless cycle

Ghostfish

The foam could be due to low salt levels in your water. Salt would can cause it to foam slightly just like in ocean water. Most tap water has some salt levels. Yours might have a bit more than most.

wuhungsix

Lucy- Thanks for the link as I read that already. My problem is I am not sure what my original levels were. Initially I was at 10 drops of Ammonia but I went to twenty drops in the second phase of the cycle (Nitrite peak). I only recently got the liquid test kits (during the Nitrite peak) since I learned the the strips were inaccurate. So I am not sure if I should half back down to 10 or half down to 5 drops on the ammonia. I guess I will just try 10 drops again and see how that goes.

Ghostfish-thanks for the input. Never occurred to me about salt content. However, I got the foam had dissipate after adding an air stone. Read that surface agitation by the bubbles cures/hides the problem. I will take some more pictures and post for the heck of it.

wuhungsix

strange thing happened. My Nitrite dropped from 1.0 to 0.25 in 4 hours. I tested during lunch and again just before this post. here is the pic of my test.


and here is a pic of the ammonia test


edit with additional: I just retested after 10 drops of Ammonia and twenty minutes later and got the same results as the pictures above. Its like I am adding water and not ammonia.

Lucy

Lookin' good.

wuhungsix

I got to step away form the tank and the test kits. these test are driving me crazy. Im just going to cut down to 10 drops and see what happens.

BTW here is a pic of the tank as of today. you can see I have added bubbles to right rear corner and few other plants. Some snails tagged along for the ride with the plants. SHould make a tasty house warming treat for the puffers. Don't confuse the floating human ear as a fish.

Lucy

Wait 24 hrs and test, if ammonia and nitrites are 0, but you have nitrates, your done.

wuhungsix

DONE? in 16 days? I was under the impression it took at least a month.

Lucy

Sometimes it takes less than a month. You'll know more in 24hrs.

Shawnie

wow the tank is saweeeeet...and the floating ear is a hoot! LOL I bet if you tried to get that again in the pic, you couldnt

wuhungsix

okay todays results:

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 20ppm (via inaccurate test strips)
pH 7.6!

I will be picking up an API kit for Nitrate today so I can get a better reading. I have not done the water change yet, but from the looks of it I guess its cycled?

Thanks for the help and compliments. Still think the tank is missing something other than fish.

Lucy

A background would look good.

Congrats on a quick cycle. Make sure you feed the tank until you get fish so you don't lose the cycle.

wuhungsix

haha, my background is actually a black garbage bag. I actually like it opposed to nothing at all.

Thanks for the help. Unfortunately there is not a single LSF in my area with Dwarf Puffers in stock. Thinking about ordering them online. I will start a new thread with pics when I get the tank stocked.

Lucy

I use colored poster board on 2 of my tanks and a regular back ground for another.

I think your tank looks terrific.

Dwarf puffers are so cute! Pictures are a must!

wuhungsix

per my new API test kit I am reading Nitrates at 10 PPM. looks like I don't even need a water change. You think the plants are the reason for the low Nitrates?

Lucy

Yep, from what I've been told, plants will absorb the nitrates.