Should I do a PWC? (Fishless Cycle)

[Marconis]

When I dosed for the first time last weekend I dosed around 6ppm. It bothered me, but then I looked online and a lot of the articles said it wasn't that big of a deal. However, after a week of my ammo staying the same, I am thinking it is stalling everything. Nitrites have been zero. Should I do a PWC? After I do the PWC do I just leave the ammonia to whatever it's at?

 

[mfdrookie516]

While a week certainly hasnt been long enough to determine whether your cycle is stalled or not, 6ppm is pretty high. I've read that anywhere from 7-9ppm or above will kill your cycle. 6ppm is just a little too close for comfort IMO. I always aim for 4ppm. Thats plenty to get the cycle going, and have a nice big colony of bacteria waiting on your fish when the cycle completes.

That said, I would leave it as is for a few more days. YOu should see it start to lower as the days go by. Once you get below 4ppm, dose back up to 4ppm, but dont go any higher than that. Thats what I would do at least

 

[Marconis]

Sounds good to me, thanks Jonathan.

 

[FishEggs]

the best thing to do is sit on your hands for a while be patient. i'd give it another week before doing anything. just monitor parameters.

 

[Marconis]

Will do. Just don't want it to be a replay of my first fishless cycle that stalled, only that was due to nitrites never dropping.

 

[Marconis]

Still 6ppm. Could be greater, I don't know. I won't be around for the next two days so I'll do a water change on Sunday.

 

[taylorodw]

If you don't notice any change by Sunday, you may as well do a 1/3 water change. That will bring you down to 4 ppm and then you can be absolutely sure you're not stalling your cycle with high ammonia.

Just my opinion. Good luck

 

[Marconis]

Sounds good. Thing is, my water is really low. I had it lower to begin with, but 2 weeks of high temps really causes massive evaporation. So, I was going to need to top off. How will that effect things?

 

[BigJim]

It will dilute your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate concentrations. Be sure to add dechlorinator before adding more water. The dechlorinator might also lower your measurable water parameters.

 

[Marconis]

It will dilute your ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate concentrations. Be sure to add dechlorinator before adding more water. The dechlorinator might also lower your measurable water parameters.

Yeah I knew it'd dilute but I was wondering how much really if I added like 25% more water (I didn't mean to say top off). Let's say when I do this PWC I go to 2ppm. Should I dose back up to 4, or just leave it? Guess I'll just have to keep an eye on it.

 

[BigJim]

I could do the math, but it's Friday and I don't feel like it this morning. 2ppm would be fine. Basically you just want to have ammonia in the tank for your bacteria to feed on. I like the 4ppm number when the cycle is nearly complete. When my tank can convert 4ppm of ammonia to nitrate in 24 hours or less, it's ready for fish.

 

[Marconis]

Alright cool, thanks Jim!

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

When I did a fishless cycle on a 225 I was told not to exceed 4ppm ammonia or the cycle would stall. I was told to keep between 1 and 4.

Most important question: What brand (specifically) of ammonia are you using?

 

[Marconis]

ACE hardware pure ammonia; used it every time I've cycled.

 

[FishEggs]

at this point if it hasnt gone down any i would do a 50% pwc.

 

[Marconis]

So, I just tested before I was about to do a water change.

Ammonia: About 1ppm
Nitrite: Off the chart, turned purple right when I added drops; > 5ppm

Haven't tested nitrates yet.
Thing is, I really need to add more water because it's gotten so low that we can't watch TV without getting annoyed at the water sound.
What should I do?

 

[mfdrookie516]

Normally, I'd be all for dumping water in then adding dechlor.. in your situation, however, I would suggest dechlorinating the water before you add it to the tank (as to not take any chances on the chlorine killing your bacteria), then dosing back up to 4ppm ammonia.

It sounds like you're well on your way in the cycle now. Just keep monitoring your ammonia levels daily and add enough to get it back up to 4ppm. Once your ammonia and nitrite read 0 within 24 hours of dosing up to 4ppm, do a 50% pwc and you'll be set.

Remember to add a little ammonia, give it about 10-15 minutes and test. It's much easier to add too little, then make up for it than to add to much and have to do a water change.

 

[Marconis]

Normally, I'd be all for dumping water in then adding dechlor.. in your situation, however, I would suggest dechlorinating the water before you add it to the tank (as to not take any chances on the chlorine killing your bacteria), then dosing back up to 4ppm ammonia.

It sounds like you're well on your way in the cycle now. Just keep monitoring your ammonia levels daily and add enough to get it back up to 4ppm. Once your ammonia and nitrite read 0 within 24 hours of dosing up to 4ppm, do a 50% pwc and you'll be set.

Remember to add a little ammonia, give it about 10-15 minutes and test. It's much easier to add too little, then make up for it than to add to much and have to do a water change.

Okay, great. I'll just do that then. Yeah this time around I'll do it little by little...I used to have a medical syringe that made dosing so easy, but I lost it so I am just using measuring spoons and that makes dosing properly more difficult.

Thanks!

 

[Marconis]

Just tested again today and ammo was down to zero. Redosed...I am not dosing to 4ppm, though. I never did it on any of my other cycles and it never caused me any problems. I have seen that opinions on this varies.

Anyway, let's hope my nitrite doesn't stay spiked for two weeks like my first cycle

 

[ejaramillo01]

Dechlorinator

Sorry that I can not help you, but learn from your experience, when you guy talk about a dechlorinator, can I use the stress coat? Or which brand and product name do you recommend?