This is my first tank and as much reading as I did beforehand it did not really prepare me properly for this. There appears to be a lot of misinformation out there about cycling and planted aquariums. Live and learn though. As much of a hassle some of this has been, and a burden on my checking account, I am still enjoying the learning process.
I have the API master freshwater testing kit. My understanding is there are two types of ammonia tests. The only thing I seem to gather is the ones in a single bottle show total ammonia where the ones with two component bottles should only be showing harmful ammonia. This could be totally wrong. I can't find anything specific on APIs site about this.
I plan to do another large water change later and will keep monitoring my levels.
If I wait until it's 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and ~few nitrates will I not risk depleting the tank of what it needs to keep it from recycling? (I don't quite grok the time-table for when it's safe to add fish.)
Thanks for the feedback!
The ammonia test kit in the API master is a total ammonia test. Free ammonia is what is harmful to fish. Seachem has what is called an ammo alert that you suction to the the glass inside your tank that tests only for free ammonia. One of the points behind a fishless cycle is so that you don't have to do all the testing and water changes as you would doing a fishy cycle, but its good that you are curious and wanting to know and understand how it works.
Keep adding an ammonia source as your cycle progresses. If you want to use fish food as your source, only put in as much as you would feed your fish, this is a good place to start to see how much you would need to add to get the desired amount of ammonia, seeing how what goes in must come out
When 24 hours after adding ammonia (or if you are adding food as a source, when you start to have a reading of ammonia because it takes time for the food to decay) you test 0 am, 0 trite, and some trates, your cycle should be completed. If you want to keep the bacteria alive until you get ready to stock it, just keep adding your ammonia source to keep the bacteria fed. I think that dosing enough ammonia a day to keep the reading at 5 ppm at the time the ammonia is added is what most ppl do.
The cycle should go like this, youll see a spike in trites and a huge decrease in ammonia, then you will see the ammonia go to zero, but the trites stay high. After this you will see the trates start to spike and pretty soon you will have zero trites. Keep in mind though that you have to add an ammonia source daily.
The cycle should take 6-8 weeks to complete, possibly longer, or shorter if you can seed the tank.
