Help cycling!

[Fird]

How long does it usually take for ammonia levels to drop?

 

[kurtyboh]

Itll take time for the bacteria to enter you system, each tank is different though so we cant give a time but for most its about a week before the tank is converting ammonia to nitrite. You have ( if it hasnt died) a small amount of the bacteria already so you will prob see a noticeable drop in a day or two.

 

[Fird]

I just checked for nitrite and I'm getting a reading of 1ppm. However, my ammonia hasn't dropped yet; its still at 8ppm. is this ok?

 

[Henry405]

8ppm ammonia is quite high. If it doesn't drop in the next 3 days, I would do a PWC. The 1ppm of nitrite is a good sign since it means some ammonia is being converted to nitrite. I usually dose ammonia to about 4-5ppm only.

 

[Fird]

Finally some sign of life! My ammonia is down to 2.0 and my nitrite is up to 5.0. Whats next? How long should I wait before I can do a water change and add my cuc?

 

[hackteck]

when ammonia and nitrite are both 0 and you have some nitrates your cycled

 

[Fird]

Do I dont have to do a water change to get my levels to 0?

 

[Henry405]

nope, bacteria will convert all ammonia to nitrite. Then another set of bacteria will convert all the nitrite to nitrate. Thats why you wait til you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and some nitrate before you do PWC

 

[Fird]

This is taking forever! So anxious!!!!

 

[hackteck]

lol yea i know it seems like it takes forever but its worth the wait

 

[JoshuA c]

Instead of going out and buying some ammonia, you could have just put some urine in the tank... It's a bit cheaper...

 

[Henry405]

^ is this even sarcasm?

 

[kurtyboh]

No some lfs' will say pee in the tank wait two weeks buy fish...

 

[mlanda]

I will add a raw shrimp as ammonia source, and it is always better to wait, the more time that you have a success cycle it will pay you back with a good biological stablished bacteria, also when you will start to stocking, try it to do calm 1 fish every week and see your results.

 

[Fird]

Shrimp didn't work for me just wasted 2 weeks of my life. Pure ammonia rocks!

 

[kurtyboh]

Esp since ifcyou do the math you know exactly what your tank is able to process in a day. It does take a few more seconds each day than dropping in a shrimp but really its still very simple.

 

[Henry405]

No some lfs' will say pee in the tank wait two weeks buy fish...

I'm not doubting that there isn't ammonia in urine, but is saving $5 worth urinating into your fish tank?

 

[hackteck]

before you try that drink some mountain dew first!

 

[Fird]

If your pissing in your tank then maybe you really dont care about the hobby and you should find another. Who would do something so disgusting when you can just buy ammonia?

 

[MrPeon99]

I suppose that would be one way to do it. I think that is very dumb though. The biggest issue is all the chemicals you would also add to your tank. If you're a smoker like myself, then all those bad chemicals you get from smoking exit your body through your urine. If you're a unhealthy eater, then it's the same thing. Granted one of the big reason you use the bathroom is to get the ammonia out of your system, another reason is to get all the chemicals you ingest out as well. It's much safer in the long run to buy the ammonia, or use shrimp.