Ammonia (fishless cycle)

[jlk]

Lets let it come down a bit more before redosing to 2ppm (.25 or lower). If its not quite zero, only add enough amm to bring it up to 2ppm & not the full dose (unless its zero). Did you add the safestart product? Just curious! Keep us posted!!

 

[MossyOakMama]

Jlk. Yes I did add tetra safe start. It was one day last week. I can't remember I might have posted on here wen I did. Okay. Thanks again. I will recheck amm in the morning.

 

[jlk]

Thanks! Keep us posted!

 

[RussellC]

Jlk. Yes I did add tetra safe start. It was one day last week. I can't remember I might have posted on here wen I did. Okay. Thanks again. I will recheck amm in the morning.

When I've used Safe Start (I fully understand it doesn't always work for everyone), I typically never seen the nitrite spike. I go straight from the presence of ammonia to full ammonia -> nitrite -> nitrate conversion in a week to ten days.

Just letting you know so that in case you never get a measurable level of nitrites, don't worry, so long as ammonia is dropping and nitrates are rising, you'll be golden.

Best!

 

[MossyOakMama]

.25ppm ammonia
.80ppm nitrates
0ppm nitrites

What is everyone's opinion? This looking right??

 

[jlk]

Looks good! Go ahead & add enough ammonia to bring it back up to 2ppm. You can use the calculator for the exact dose (1.75ppm). If you need it reposted, let us know!

 

[MossyOakMama]

Just doses it to 2.0ppm ammonia. I will test in the morning and see where we stand.

Should I test rites and rates also in the morning??

 

[jlk]

Yep, let's see how everything looks!

 

[MossyOakMama]

Ammonia 1.0ppm
Rites .25ppm

Gonna wait so I can dose it again back up to 2.0ppm ammonia.

 

[jlk]

Things are progressing!!

 

[RussellC]

Things are progressing!!

Indeed they are!

While you're getting some nitrite, you are also getting nitrate so it looks like nitrite -> nitrate conversion has also started.

Congrats, keep up the good work, and I don't think it'll be long now!

 

[MossyOakMama]

Trites 0ppm
Trates .40-.80ppm reds r hard to tell
Ammonia .25ppm

Now what redose to 2.0ppm??

 

[jlk]

You probably dosed already (since you posted this last night)- how do things look today?

 

[MossyOakMama]

I fell asleep. Just dosed it! Lol

 

[MossyOakMama]

I have a question? What readings am I waiting on?? All zeros?? R what?? I know I have a lot if questions, but I am a newbie.

 

[jlk]

You are looking for ammonia & nitrite to zero in 24hrs. There should be a corresponding increase in nitrates as well but this is not an absolute because I have helped with tanks that never had increases. Typically, ammonia levels zero out before nitrites zero out. Just keep an eye on everything & keep us posted!

 

[jondamon]

The readings you are waiting for are once you redose ammonia up to 2ppm in 24hours time you want
Amm 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrates whatever it reads out at. From your last testing it will probably be around 120ppm.

If your nitrate reading gets over 100ppm I would do a massive PWC to bring Nitrates down.

If you plan on stocking your tank quite heavily to begin with then you would need to increase your ammonia dosage up to 2.5-3ppm to get the BB converting that in 24hours. Then up it again to 4ppm until its converting 4ppm within 24hours.

For now, seeing as you have redosed to 2ppm, wait 24hours to see whether Amm and Trite zero out.

If they do zero I would do a 100% PWC then redose to 2.5ppm of ammonia then repost after 24hours.

As long as you're getting zero's for Amm nitrite then you can add fish.

HOWEVER the Nitrates would need to be lower than 40ppm to stock fish.


Hope this helped.


Jon

 

[MossyOakMama]

Readings today-
0ppm ammonia
0ppm trites
.40-.80ppm trates

Remember that I will b moving all my fish from 10 gal to 46 gal.

Should I dose back to 4.0ppm ammonia.

 

[jondamon]

What did you dose at last time?

Was it 3ppm or 2ppm?

If you are adding your stock from the 10g I would keep dosing at 3ppm and not worry about hitting 4ppm.

Keep up with 3ppm for the next 2 days and if it keeps zero'ing out perform PWC's to get Nitrates down below 20ppm then you can stock.



Jon

 

[MossyOakMama]

Okay. Thank you. Gonna dose 3.0ppm ammonia.