Ok guys....brand new to the Hobby so let me tell you what I have done so far and please stear me in right direction. We purchased a 65 Gallon Aqueon Column tank that is 36 inches wide, 18 inches deep and 25 inches height wise. I have filled the tank with water as well as decorations, gravel and some fake plants. I have 2 emperor 400 filters's running on the back of the tank with the 2 carbon cartridges they come with in them both as well as 1 of the additional maedia cartridges filled with Fluval 500 biomax. I also have a 300W heater and it has my water currently sitting at 82-84 degrees. I have a Tetra Whisper 100 air pump set up supplying air through silicone tubing to both my coral decoration and also a 12 inch Top Fin Long Airstone.
5/28 started fishless cycle:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
pH : between 7.4-7.6
So now I am going to add my ammonia from the ace hardware store and according to the calculator looks like I need to add 9.84 ML since it is a 65 gallon tank with 10% ammonia to get it to a 4ppm reading. So I add 9 ML, wait 20 minutes and get 4ppm ammonia reading.
5/29 Ammonia : 4.0
5/30 Ammonia : 4.0
5/31 Ammonia : 4.0
6/1 Ammonia : 4.0
6/2 Ammonia : 4.0
went to LFS and purchased a "cultured pad" added to my filter at 6pm
6/3
Ammonia : 2
Nitrite : 0.5
Nitrate : 0
pH : between 8.0-8.2
6/4
Ammonia : between 1.0-2.0
Nitrite : 1.0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 8.0
Everything going great so far Ammonia dropping, Nitrites starting to form and i'm excited. I dose the ammonia back up to 4ppm by adding 5ml of ammonia.
6/5
Ammonia : 4
Nitrite : between 2.0-5.0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 8.0
6/6
Ammonia : 4.0
Nitrite : 5.0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 8.0
6/7
Ammonia : 4.0
Nitrite : 5.0
Nitrate :between 0.0 and 5.0
pH : 8.0
5/28 started fishless cycle:
Ammonia : 0
Nitrite : 0
Nitrate : 0
pH : between 7.4-7.6
So now I am going to add my ammonia from the ace hardware store and according to the calculator looks like I need to add 9.84 ML since it is a 65 gallon tank with 10% ammonia to get it to a 4ppm reading. So I add 9 ML, wait 20 minutes and get 4ppm ammonia reading.
5/29 Ammonia : 4.0
5/30 Ammonia : 4.0
5/31 Ammonia : 4.0
6/1 Ammonia : 4.0
6/2 Ammonia : 4.0
went to LFS and purchased a "cultured pad" added to my filter at 6pm
6/3
Ammonia : 2
Nitrite : 0.5
Nitrate : 0
pH : between 8.0-8.2
6/4
Ammonia : between 1.0-2.0
Nitrite : 1.0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 8.0
Everything going great so far Ammonia dropping, Nitrites starting to form and i'm excited. I dose the ammonia back up to 4ppm by adding 5ml of ammonia.
6/5
Ammonia : 4
Nitrite : between 2.0-5.0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 8.0
6/6
Ammonia : 4.0
Nitrite : 5.0
Nitrate : 0
pH : 8.0
6/7
Ammonia : 4.0
Nitrite : 5.0
Nitrate :between 0.0 and 5.0
pH : 8.0