Adding Ammonia (Fishless cycle)

[Stylix1981]

Can someone help me work out how much ammonia to add to my tank please?


I have a 54 litre tank so i know i can add 1 drop of ammonia per litre but i have an issue with my bottle of ammonia. I have attached a pic of my tank, they are live plants if that makes any difference with fishless cycling and i have some driftwood to go in but it isnt waterlogged enough yet to stop it floating.


There is no dropper top on it, it has a flip up spout which unfortunately will not give me drops. It just squirts out in a stream. It came with a normal flat top screw on bottle top. It is a 60ml bottle of Dr Tims Ammonia.



Can anyone tell me how many drops of ammonia half a capfull is?

 

[Andy Sager]

This is from the Dr Tim's site. Take note of the change in drops necessary.

1 drop equals 0.05 ml
1 ml equals 20 drops
1 teaspoon equals about 5 ml which is 100 drops
1 tablespoon equals almost 15 ml which is 300 drops

*NOTE: As of November 1, 2016 we changed the concentration of the ammonium chloride solution so it now takes 4 drops per gallon. The previous version called for 1 drop per gallon. Please see the label on your bottle to determine how much to use. If the bottle says use 1 drop use 1 drop if the bottle says use 4 drops use 4 drops.

 

[Stylix1981]

So my tank in gallons is either 11.8 (uk) or 14.2 (us). i dont know which i am meant to use for this calculation.


So i can use a 2.5ml syringe to equate 50 drops?

 

[Andy Sager]

So my tank in gallons is either 11.8 (uk) or 14.2 (us). i dont know which i am meant to use for this calculation.


So i can use a 2.5ml syringe to equate 50 drops?

With a fishless cycle, the exact amount is not as important to start off so I would use the lesser amount, wait for it to totally circulate in your tank, test your water than adjust accordingly. If your syringe is calibrated, you should be able to calculate how much to add to bring it up to 4 ppm. If it's a bit over but under 5 ppm, leave things alone and test for how long it takes for the ammonia level to go to 0. If it's above 5 ppm, you should do a partial water change to bring it down to 4 ppm. I would start with doing 1/2 ( .5) ml since your tank will not hold 11.8 or 14.2 gallons with the displacement from the substrate and decorations.

 

[Colin_T]

To work out the volume of water in the tank:
measure length x width x height in cm.
divide by 1000.
= volume in litres.

There are 3.785 litres in a US Gallon
There are 4.5 litres in a UK gallon

When you measure the height, measure from the top of the substrate to the top of the water level.

If you have big rocks or driftwood in the tank, remove these before measuring the height of the water level so you get a more accurate water volume.

You can use a permanent marker to draw a line on the tank at the water level and put down how many litres are in the tank at that level.

----------------------

If you are concerned, add half what you think and wait an hour. Then test the ammonia level in the water. You want the ammonia level around 3ppm. If it's only on 1ppm, add some more. If it's 4ppm, that's fine. If it's over 5ppm, do a water change to bring it down a bit.

 

[Aiken Drum]

It sounds like your bottle is faulty. If i gently squeeze my bottle then it produces drops, if i just squeeze it hard then it comes out in a stream.

The 4 drops per gallon is to raise ammonia by 2ppm. The last time i used this product the dosing was accurate.

Generally if gallons are quoted on dosing they mean US gallons. Pretty much everyone else uses litres. Divide your litres by 4 and call it good enough. Or just do 1 drop per litre in this particular instance. I would check the level with a test to be sure though.

Off topic. Owl or blade? Amazing comeback last night.

 

[Stylix1981]

Sadly i am neither a blade or an owl, i do however work at sheffield united lol.


I have enclosed a picture of my bottle of ammonia and the tops that came with it so you can see what i mean about having no dropper top.


I dosed it with 2.5ml last night and i am going to test it later to see what level it is at.

 

[Aiken Drum]

Looking around online they have a different lid now to what they had when i bought mine.

 

[Stylix1981]

So i have tested my ammonia level and it is at 4ppm.



So now i leave it to lower and when it reaches 1ppm i dose it again back up to 4?

 

[Aiken Drum]

You only need to redose it back to 2ppm. Once you are cycling out 2ppm of ammonia into zero ammonia + nitrite in 24 hours you are cycled.

 

[Stylix1981]

You only need to redose it back to 2ppm. Once you are cycling out 2ppm of ammonia into zero ammonia + nitrite in 24 hours you are cycled.

to take to 2 that would pribably be half what i put in wouldnt it so around 1.25ml?

 

[Aiken Drum]

Depends where you started at. If you are redosing from 0ppm to 2ppm then yes, 1.25ml. If you are redosing from 1ppm to 2ppm then it would be about 0.6ml.

 

[Stylix1981]

Depends where you started at. If you are redosing from 0ppm to 2ppm then yes, 1.25ml. If you are redosing from 1ppm to 2ppm then it would be about 0.6ml.

I tested the water before i dosed it and the ammonia was at 0.5ppm, not sure where it came from as it was at 0 a week ago.