hence the reason i am asking
used the test kit only a few times over the past month other than that its new
i'm off to do another test, stay with me
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hence the reason i am asking
used the test kit only a few times over the past month other than that its new
i'm off to do another test, stay with me
LOL
i am a fool
should wait awhile for the test to work
give me the dunce hat
back soon
off to do a water change
back from a complete water change
lets start again
Flukes,
i have juut started a series of tanks and i know my ammonia test kit works, how much is the rate per 100ltrs
:wink:
Ok the original receipe was 4-5 drops NH3 / 10 gal / day until nitrite peaks, then reduce to 2-3 drops / 10 gal / day.
Now since this has progressed Tom Griffen, the creator of this method recommends adding the 4-5 drops per 10gal testing for a reading, you will want a reading of 5ppm so if it gives you 2ppm then double the amount. Use the 4-5drop per 10gal as a base and then calculate how much you need to get it too 5ppm.
after a week of water changes i have achived the 5ppm
HINT DON'T PUT IN 400ML OF AMMONIA
do i wait till the ammonia to drop a little before i add more
or do i add two cap fulls (which got the reading to 5ppm) even if it raises the ammonia above the 5ppm?
Naa wait till you see it drop again, you can even leave it at 4ppm. As long as there is ammonia present then the bacteria will form too convert it too nitrite.
The reason its recomended too keep it at 5ppm is so that there is the maximum amount of bacteria created. I let mine drop too 2-3ppm before i topped it up.
I actually found that putting too much ammonia and then doing a water change help my cycle.
Also if you dont see much happening, like 5days without a different reading i like too do a water change and add the ammonia again.
yeah thats what i figured,
i am onto it, keep you posted
Im now into the end of my fourth week of fishless cycling pH 8.2 i originally started with pH 7.1 Temp 30 Degrees Ammonia: 2-3ppm Nitrite: 5 and has been up for 2 weeks without dropping .... ive been keeping ammonia at half dose after nitrite peak my nitrate fluctuates from one day to the next any suggestions??
You mean nitrites are fluctuating?? If your nitrates are fluctuating then you must be doing water changes.. or have plants in the tank..
Normally when i hit a dry spot, i do a 50% water change. Take the readings again, now keep adding ammonia but not as much. You ammonia should sit around 2-3ppm and nitrite around 4-5ppm.
Normally you dont see things happening when there is either too much ammonia or nitrite. Normally the later because everytime ammonia is added its converted too nitrites.
To make it easier try keeping your nitrites at 4ppm, so if its at 4ppm dont add anymore till it drops.
Just about every cycle i have done contains a water change because ive added too much ammonia, it happens to easily, but a water change seem to start things going again.
Oh something i have not added this whole post...
If your changing water dont use de-chloranated water, most dechlors reduce ammonia, in a cycle we want ammonia!...
o.k my tanks have been cycling for a few weeks
i add a cap full of ammonium and it brings my level to 5ppm
the next arvo its at nil
NitrAtes are sitting at about 40ppm, i'll do a 80% water cahnge now to destroy this
i don't have a nitrIte kit so i just don't know.
can i add fish (only livebears at the minymo)?
Hard too say if the nitirte->nitrate bacteria has formed but there must be some present.
What i would do is,do a water change try too get the nitrates down too 0ppm, then add your ammonia too get a level of 5ppm.
Let it go for 24hours, if the cycle is complete the ammonia should be zero, along with the nitrite but cause we cant test for this, you'll have too go by your nitrate readings.
After the 24 hours your ammonia is at 0ppm, your nitrates should be over 20ppm. Just as an estamite.
Let us know how you go.
Also kinda weird that you have a nitrate test kit and not a nitrite? Normally its the other way around.. :?
I ran out and so did my local LFS, to busy ( my wife says lazy) to drive elsewhere LOLQuote:
Also kinda weird that you have a nitrate test kit and not a nitrite? Normally its the other way around..
lets see if the cycle works, i will post
thanks mate
No probs, you cant really so anything wrong when doing a fishless cycle. As there are no fish too bare the mistake.
true true,
looking forward to adding soem fish now
we'll see tomorrow :wink:
I'm giving fishless cycling a go for the first time. I plan to use it a little differently though and wanted to get your collective thoughts.
I want to cycle a mini-reef setup that has 7 tanks with a wet/dry filter. As I am waiting for my stand to be built I'm going to cycle most of the bio-balls I intend to use in the wet/dry. I'm doing this by filling a 1200ltr/hr canister filter and running it on a separate tank. My plan is once the cycle is complete I'll tank the bio-balls out of the canister and put them into the wet/dry. PH and temp will be comparable (actually I'm going to run the spare about 7.5 and the mini reef at 7).
Is this a viable plan? anything I need to do differently?
Thanks.
that will work but undertand that only the canister will be ready at the end of the cycle
alot of your good bateria hang on the glass in the gravel on the structures in the tank,
you will need to give these items a chance to "catch up" later
the setup you discribed will speed up the process alot though, i have heard of alot of peolpe useing the same setup to install fish tanks in resteruants when they are the last thing to go in 48hours before grand opening. works well ( although they do add three or four well esthablished filters and cut them back over time, same principle)
Good to hear I haven't made a complete mess of it. My fish load will be relatively small and I will add water to the setup from established tanks and well as from the tap. I'll keep a close eye on the parameters hopefully it will do the job.
Thanks for the response.
i would still try and let the tank cycle for as long as possible
it may just make it easier, thats all :wink:
Hmmm...
I think about re doing the fishless cycle once the reef is setup, should be much faster. 90% w/c on 900ltrs is pretty hefty though.
I ended up transfering some of the biomedia to the reef and then minicycling it. I added 2 drops of ammonia until the nitrite went back to 0. It took 5 days. After another day I added 2 adults and 2 juvi's. It all worked really well and my plan is to continue to fishless cycle the remaining media in the spare tank and transfer it bit by bit as more fish are added.
So i have a 160L tank which has been setup for about 5 months now, unfortunatley i have used fish to try and cycle the tank and it never really worked got ammonia readings of about 0.25 and no nitrite or nitrate.
Then i changed my substrate to ADA which overnight boosted my tanks specs up to A=4, Nitrite = 2, Nitrate = 20 did water change to combat this to keep fish alive (also didn't know about the ammonia in ADA before i bought it so was a major learning experience)
So at the moment i want to keep 4 Discus in the tank along with some Bristlenose, the tank is still showing an ammonia reading of 1 even after being setup for 5 months don't know why with not nitrite and trace nitrate.
To combat this i have ordered a quarantine tank and plan to transfer fish to this while i properly cycle my display tank this time with the 'fishless method'
Just got a few questions (basically trying to summaries all posts into one so i can have it all in front of me instead of referring to multiple posts)
1. I need to first need to aquascape the tank the way i want it before i add water
2. Add tap water to tank without dechlorinating it
3. Let filter run for 24 hrs
4. Add enough ammonia as per the instructions to get an ammonia reading of 4-5ppm
5. Continue adding ammonia to keep readings at 4-5ppm till nitrite peaks [b](what sort of reading should i be looking for here? around 2-3ppm?)[b]
6. Once nitrite has peaked add only half doses of ammonia to keep cycle going
7. keep adding ammonia till nitrate readings appear
8. Continue ammonia addition till if i add enough to get a reading of 5ppm it dissapears overnight
9. once ammonia, nitrites = 0 and nitrates register something do a water change removing as much water as i can.
10. Refill tank with water and then i should have a cycled tank
Is this correct? have i missed anything?
Also the filter material i currently have on my display tank although it isn't really doing much test result wise can i assume i have some amount of bacteria in it and that i could rinse it in tank water and then use it or should i add completely new filter material to start the cycling process again?
Hopefully mine takes as short a time as some of the others between 1 and 2 weeks as i am bored of looking at an empty tank.
So i have a 160L tank which has been setup for about 5 months now, unfortunatley i have used fish to try and cycle the tank and it never really worked got ammonia readings of about 0.25 and no nitrite or nitrate.
Then i changed my substrate to ADA which overnight boosted my tanks specs up to A=4, Nitrite = 2, Nitrate = 20 did water change to combat this to keep fish alive (also didn't know about the ammonia in ADA before i bought it so was a major learning experience)
So at the moment i want to keep 4 Discus in the tank along with some Bristlenose, the tank is still showing an ammonia reading of 1 even after being setup for 5 months don't know why with not nitrite and trace nitrate.
To combat this i have ordered a quarantine tank and plan to transfer fish to this while i properly cycle my display tank this time with the 'fishless method'
Just got a few questions (basically trying to summaries all posts into one so i can have it all in front of me instead of referring to multiple posts)
1. I need to first need to aquascape the tank the way i want it before i add water
2. Add tap water to tank without dechlorinating it
3. Let filter run for 24 hrs
4. Add enough ammonia as per the instructions to get an ammonia reading of 4-5ppm
5. Continue adding ammonia to keep readings at 4-5ppm till nitrite peaks (what sort of reading should i be looking for here? around 2-3ppm?)
6. Once nitrite has peaked add only half doses of ammonia to keep cycle going
7. keep adding ammonia till nitrate readings appear
8. Continue ammonia addition till if i add enough to get a reading of 5ppm it dissapears overnight
9. once ammonia, nitrites = 0 and nitrates register something do a water change removing as much water as i can.
10. Refill tank with water and then i should have a cycled tank
Is this correct? have i missed anything?
Also the filter material i currently have on my display tank although it isn't really doing much test result wise can i assume i have some amount of bacteria in it and that i could rinse it in tank water and then use it or should i add completely new filter material to start the cycling process again?
Hopefully mine takes as short a time as some of the others between 1 and 2 weeks as i am bored of looking at an empty tank.