Fishless Cycle Issue

Hey Fishlore,

I'm currently sending my 20 Gallon tank through a fishless cycle with pure ammonia. I started 2 weeks ago and today my test kit finally read near 0 for Ammonia. My Nitrites are off the chart on my kit as well. I raised may Ammonia levels back to 4 ppm. Now my question is: How long can I go without providing an ammonia source, without resetting my cycle. The problem is from July 5-10 I'll be out of town on business and won't be able to add the need Ammonia to my tank if the Ammonia Level drops to 0. My first thought is to jack it really high (like 10 ppm) and check it when I get back. Any thoughts?

Thanks

 

My first thought: Do you have anybody who could at least dose your tank a few times that week?

And I could be wrong, but if you do a huge dose of ammonia, you will just get a bacterial bloom, and you will end up with 0 ammonia in a few days. But I'm not totally sure about that.

I'm sure others will chime in.

 

Actually, to high of ammonia levels will just kill the bacteria. (Ammonia is a cleaner)

 

no one to help :-(

 

Maybe some one with more experience will chime in but I have read this about the cycle a few times. Just some ideas.
https://www.fishlore.com/NitrogenCycle.htm.

Could you put a piece of raw shrimp or fish in the tank while your gone to produce amonnia?
Maybe get an automatic feeder to put a few flakes in. I know nothing about automatic feeders so I don't know if u could set it to drop a few flakes say twice a day.

I am in no way an expert just trying to give u some options.

Kevin

 

The raw shrimp Idea should work, I would drop it in a day or two early to give it some time to start breaking down.

 

Actually, to high of ammonia levels will just kill the bacteria. (Ammonia is a cleaner)

Thanks for clearing that up!

 

Thanks for the advice everyone.