Cycling With Ammonia Steps....

so I'm gonna fishless cycle (20 gallon) using ammonia, fish flakes taking forever and was told I didn't have enough ammonia to get nitrites going ... so I finally got pure ammonia...

is this the correct steps (from what I gathered through other sites/threads)

1. add ammonia to 4-5 ppm
2. wait til ammomia drops to about 1 then test for nitrites, should be some
3. when ammonia drops to about 0 add more to 3 or 4 ppm
4. continue above til once the bacteria are able to process 4 or 5 ppm of ammonia back to zero ammonia and nitrite in about 10 to 12 hours. You are officially cycled.

The Final Test

Administer one final test before adding fish. Add a full dose of ammonia to the water to bring it to 4ppm. Allow it to sit overnight. When tested the next day, only nitrate should appear. Ammonia and Nitrite levels should read 0ppm. If the ammonia or nitrite level is over 0 ppm, cycling is not complete. Continue to cycle and test the water. Perform this test again when the fishless cycle appears done.

then 75-90% water change

does that sound about right? anything I should change etc?

what about adding Stability, if so how much/often? And I presume no water changes (unless goes above 6ppm?

any tips/help be appreciated .

 

Close to what I did, however, when I saw nO3, I started doing daily water changes to keep it low. I also had a sponge filter from a friend, which was a jump start, and dirty!

 

so at what range of ppm should I do partial water change? If ammonia goes above 6ppm? If Nitrates go above 40?

Sammy, how long did your cycle tale using ammonia as source?

 

No water changes until ammonia comes down, Nitrites go up and down, I would suggest 30 or 40 for Nitrates.

 

I’ve not had a minI cycle when waiting for 24 hours (not 12). When you’re done, you’ll have a LOT of nitrates. I just finished cycling and I had about 120. Lol I did 50% water change and it’s down to about 80. It’ll take me a few more changes to get it to 20.

 

I’ve not had a minI cycle when waiting for 24 hours (not 12). When you’re done, you’ll have a LOT of nitrates. I just finished cycling and I had about 120. Lol I did 50% water change and it’s down to about 80. It’ll take me a few more changes to get it to 20.

when cycling is done and you're at the stage where you said doing 50% water changes to get high nitrates down, how often do you do the changes? weekly? couple times week?

 

Based upon your bioload, it will depend. Test regularly and when nitrates go above 40ppm, do water change.

I have one tank that needs 33%, 2Xs a week. My other 4 need 25%, 1 Xs a week.

Obviously my first tank is over stocked, and the other 4 are lightly stocked.

 

when cycling is done and you're at the stage where you said doing 50% water changes to get high nitrates down, how often do you do the changes? weekly? couple times week?

You can do a 75 to 90% change as you indicated, I just have a crummy vacuum right now and 50% all I can do. I’m doing it every day (or two) but you can also do it all at once. Just make sure you continue feed it ammonia until you get fish in there.

Edit - once your nitrate are down, I do weekly changes (25-30%) but for people who are slightly overstocked more frequent is recommended. It would depend on your stock and sensitivity of fish too.

 

Welp, I must share this info with all who save a fish by doing a fishless cycle. I read the rumors, I've heard all the debates over what source to use for ammonia. The funniest and most comical conversation out there is the human urine source of ammonia. Now, I by no means would suggest doing this to kick start a tank but after seeing so much debate over the subject and nobody confirming the outcome of a fishless cycle using this method I felt compelled to document the method of using human urine as the ammonia source. Without getting into all the details of how this went down I will share the quick version of the story. A new 30gal tank loaded with everything. This was not a cheap test. Imagine the perfect cycle from start to finish as far as API test go. Imagine testing every 12 hours and doing nothing after the first 1-1/2 cups urine was added on the first day. Imagine the tank cycle was finished and ready for a 80% water change after only 10 days. Well folks, that's what happened with my 30gal tank while testing the human urine rumor I've heard so much about. Can't hardly believe it myself and I find it discussing and amazing at the same time. This is the fastest cycle I've ever had and I've never heard of anyone getting it done faster. Thought I'd share with you. And yes, I would do it again if I'm in a pinch. Personally I like moving bacteria from One tank to the other.
Good day fishless cycling people.

 

I would add something like 2 ppm ammonia at first. Then when they drop and nitrite rise, add 0.5 or 1 ppm of ammonia a
per week. This is more than enough to keep the bacteria alive. What happens when you add 4 ppm constantly is that the ammonia will turn into nitrite, but the bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrates has not developed yet. And so you're just stacking nitrite and will end up off the charts on the nitrite levels and that will be harmful.
Then once your nitrite drips and nitrates go up, add 1-2 ppm of ammonia. Test a day later (24h). If no ammonia and no nitrite are present, you're good to go. Do a 80% water change and you can put a fish or two in. Don't overdo the fish. Wait a week between each couple of fish