cycling mishap

[oliverosuna]

As I was starting the cycling process I over estimated the amount of ammonia to put in. Now my readings are over 5ppm. I think this is probably too high can this be lowered with a simple, partial water change?

 

[bman]

Sounds high, I would do the PWC. Although, I do not have any experience in fishless cycling, maybe someone else could help here.

 

[Guest]

I don't think its too high.. just don't add anymore ammonia. If there are no fish in the tank then doing a PWC can actualy stall and prolong the cycle because your removing nutrients from the tank. Although high ammonia CAN inhibit bacterial growth i think if you leave it and just watch your levels as it begins to drop you can add more ammonia and keep it at a steady level (Just about at the highest level) Until you start seeing NITRITES. When you start seeing nitrites you keep adding ammonia to make the niTRITE level peak until you see niTRATES. As this happens your ammonia should eventually drop to ZERO... and of course you are still adding ammonia for the bacteria to use as food and once your nitrite is at zero and you have nitrates you can add fish right away!!!

 

[Rondory]

I did the same exact thing and ended up just draining, rinsing and starting all over. I'm a newbie, so I'm not recommending you do the same. I then did a bit more research on fishless cycling and found that it is imperative that your Ammonia doesn't have Surfactants listed as an ingredient. I reread my Ammonia bottle and saw that my two different clear, non sudsing bottle did indeed have Surgactants (soap).
I drained again, rinsed, refilled. UGH!

Best of luck!

 

[oliverosuna]

I did the same exact thing and ended up just draining, rinsing and starting all over. I'm a newbie, so I'm not recommending you do the same. I then did a bit more research on fishless cycling and found that it is imperative that your Ammonia doesn't have Surfactants listed as an ingredient. I reread my Ammonia bottle and saw that my two different clear, non sudsing bottle did indeed have Surgactants (soap).
I drained again, rinsed, refilled. UGH!

Best of luck!

Why is it bad to have Surgactants (soap)? Will this not get cycled out through the filter or when I do some partial water changes?

 

[Guest]

it's supposed to be PURE ammonia with nothing added. The added chemicals can harm the fish.

 

[oliverosuna]

Ok, but will the soap get filtered out or removed with some water changes, or do I need to remove all the water and rinse everything?

 

[Rondory]

I read about sufactants on Aquatic-hobbist forum. Put it in the search and it will bring up several posts about it. Doesn't sound like good stuff.

http://www.aquatic-hobbyist.com/phpBB2/index.php

[/url]

 

[jcostantino]

Surfactants are designed to alter the surface tension of a liquid.. High surface tension allows a fly to walk on water. It makes the (in this case) ammonia more likely to penetrate the dirt being removed.

Soap is a surfactant and well... you don't want to breathe that

 

[Rondory]

Will activated carbon remove surfactants from the water?

 

[quitters]

Why bother with all that just go get ammonia without sufactants its not hard to find, is it? really cheap too

 

[bosk1]

Ok, but will the soap get filtered out or removed with some water changes, or do I need to remove all the water and rinse everything?

No, you have to drain and rinse everything manually. The amount of ammonia you added is not a problem. But if your ammonia has additives, it is highly likely those additives will remain in your tank and are highly toxic to your fish.

 

[oliverosuna]

i've rinsed and i'm using a shrimp to do the cycle now.

 

[bosk1]

Serious bummer about having to start over and rinse everything. But the good news is, this happened before you stocked your tank and lost any fish. All you've lost is a little time cycling your tank. Once you have been up and running for a few months, this will seem like a minor little speed bump. Good luck!