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Hi All

I've started a fishless cycle and my ammonia is now registering 5ppm. No nitrites or nitrates are registering. The ammonia has been at the 5 to 6 ppm level for several days now and I have not added any more to my tank. I have read where I should be adding the same amount of ammonia that it took to reach the 5ppm on a daily basis and when the nitrites start to register, to reduce the daily amount by half until nitrates appear. I also read a contracdition that when the ammonia level reaches 5ppm to stop adding it. When the level lowers to 2ppm start testing for nitrites and as soon as they appear, start adding half of the ammonia it took to reach 5ppm.

I'm at a loss as to how to proceed here. Can anyone offer some advice on this please?

Thanks much!


*Mitch*

Hi,
I'm not sure what articles you are reading but, here is
another:

http://badmanstropicalfish.com/articles/article14.html

You want to decide, if you can, what type of bioload you
will have in the tank and then add ammonia to simulate that
number of fish. Then watch the ammonia and nitrite.
You should see the ammonia drop off and the nitrite pick
up. If you wait too long, the ammonia will drop to zero,
and you do not want that. You should add additional
ammonia when you see the ammonia dropping towards zero.
About 1/2 or 1/4 of the initial ammonia reading is when
you would add additional ammonia.
Not every day, it depends upon when the bacteria start
growing and the ammonia starts dropping.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Thanks Frank. This helps a lot


*Mitch*

I add enough to get 3ppm, remember that amount, wait for nitrites to show up, then add 3ppm worth daily until I add fish. What's the point in lowering the level? If you add less you will have less bacteria and the tank will be able to handle less ammonia which means less of an initial fish load. If anything I would raise the level after the tank is nearly cycled in order to increase the biofilter. If you add ammonia daily before you get nitrites then the ammonia will get too high. At around 8ppm and higher the bacteria actually start having trouble living and multiplying.

Hi Sham

I'm still a little confused. Once the nitrites appear and I keep adding, on a daily basis, the same full amount of ammonia that it took me to reach in my case 5ppm, won't that keep spiking my ammonia, which would remove the nitrites and I wouldn't register nitrates?

Thanks!


*Mitch*

Hi,
In my paragraph after the link, I was summarizing what
the article said. Actually you are not "removing nitrite"
by adding the ammonia as Sham sugggests.

Cycling a tank can take 4 to 6 weeks. During that time
you add ammonia continuously, as if there were a tank
full of fish eating and eliminating waste (ammonia)
products. After a short time bacteria form that thrive
on the ammonia, and convert it to nitrites. As the cycle
starts the ammonia can climb to 6 before the next bacteria
in the process form and start to convert the ammonia to
nitrite. Nitrites can reach 10 or more before the next
stage of bacterial development occurs, and a new generation
of bacteria form that convert the nitrite to nitrate.

The process resembles overlapping sine waves as the ammonia
peaks and the nitrites start up. As the nitrites build
toward a peak the ammonia will drop off in strength at
about the same rate. Then the 3rd sine wave, the nitrates
start to appear and grow feeding off the nitrite which
then starts to fall off as the nitrate build up.
Nitrates can reach 40, although it is not recommended.
Once you can add ammonia, and a few minutes later read
zero ammonia, and zero nitrite, the cycle is finished.
Ammonia is converted to nitrite which is converted to
nitrate about as fast as it is mixed in the tank.
Then, in the fishless cycling of a tank, you can add fish.

You generally want to keep the nitrates low between zero
and, say, 20. 10 to 20 is recommended for a planted tank
and less for fish only.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

I get it! Thanks much!


*Mitch*

Usually with fishless cycling you end up with very high nitrates at the end and do a 50% or more water change before adding the fish. 50+ nitrates isn't uncommon and is just the result of adding so much ammonia without doing any water changes. Most fish wouldn't survive the levels we use for fishless cycling but most people think it helps the tank cycle faster.