Kuhnini's 40 gal freshwater fishless cycle has commenced!
- Thread starter Kuhnini
- Start date
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librarygirl
Look It Up
Good luck with your cycle!
First lesson learned. When using the Master Test kit, let the sample set in the test tube for a few minutes before comparing the sample to the chart. I didn't wait long enough and kept adding ammonia to my tank and retesting trying to get it to 4ppm. After one test, the phone rang which took me away for a few minutes. I came back to look at my test tube and it registered 8ppm. Needless to say my first water change followed. 
I think I'm learning a lesson in PATIENCE. I've started my fishless cycle and seeing no drop in my ammonia level. I started on March 24th. Added too much ammonia at first and had to do a water change. Finally hit the 4ppm mark late on the 24th. As of today's water test, still at 4ppm. I should be getting a used filter from a friend tomorrow. In the back of my mind I am wondering if I actually have pure ammonia. I got it a "farm store" called Rural King. We do not have an Ace Hardware in the area where we live. The clerk insisted it was pure ammonia. The ingredients are not listed on the bottle. The label on the bottle just says...Ammonia.
The positive side of me thinks I need to be patient and once I get the seeding material things will pick up...hopefully. The "not so positive" side of me things I don't have pure ammonia and will basically have to start from scratch!
The positive side of me thinks I need to be patient and once I get the seeding material things will pick up...hopefully. The "not so positive" side of me things I don't have pure ammonia and will basically have to start from scratch!
Ok, I finally have in my possesion a 32 oz bottle of "ACE Ammonia" from ACE Hardware. The exact name on the label says as follows:
Ammonia
Janitorial Strength Formula
>Contains 10% ammonium hydroxide
>No rinse performance
>Meets commercial & institutional specification
It is clear in color and cost $2.00
The liquid looks just like the other bottle I bought at Rural King but I feel more comfortable having the exact ammonia that is suggested on these forums. Where I work we have trucks that cover an 11 county area and I had one of our drivers stop at ACE Hardware in one of the city's we service since there isn't one in the city I live in. As I continue my fishless cycle I will use the ACE Hardware ammonia and besides my OCD is under control now with the exact ammonia.
Ammonia
Janitorial Strength Formula
>Contains 10% ammonium hydroxide
>No rinse performance
>Meets commercial & institutional specification
It is clear in color and cost $2.00
The liquid looks just like the other bottle I bought at Rural King but I feel more comfortable having the exact ammonia that is suggested on these forums. Where I work we have trucks that cover an 11 county area and I had one of our drivers stop at ACE Hardware in one of the city's we service since there isn't one in the city I live in. As I continue my fishless cycle I will use the ACE Hardware ammonia and besides my OCD is under control now with the exact ammonia.
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yep, thats great stuff! Just dont be tempted to sniff the bottle- it will literally knock you on your butt! Good luck with your cycle! Heres the ammonia calculator if you havent already seen it.
Calculator
Calculator
Sake
Aquarium Advice FINatic
- Joined
- Mar 20, 2012
- Messages
- 515
I like that calculator I do believe I'll bookmark that lol
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Please thank Librarygirl for finding this link!! Its a wonderful tool to have for fishless cycling!
librarygirl
Look It Up
You're welcome The initital drop in ammonia can take up to two weeks without seeded media, so patience is definitely a virtue when fishless cycling. Hopefully the media from your friend will help. Keep us posted.
The initital drop in ammonia can take up to two weeks without seeded media, so patience is definitely a virtue when fishless cycling. Hopefully the media from your friend will help. Keep us posted.Wooooohooooo! It's party time...I think. The only way I could be patient with my fishless cycle was not test the water every day so here is my log. I'm excited but a bit confused. Not sure if the readings are as they should be but here goes:
3/29/12
Ammonia 4.0ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
4/3/12
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite <5.0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
I'm assuming I should dose the ammonia back up to 4.0 ppm correct?
And is it also safe to assume I am in the early stages of my fishless cycle?
3/29/12
Ammonia 4.0ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
4/3/12
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite <5.0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
I'm assuming I should dose the ammonia back up to 4.0 ppm correct?
And is it also safe to assume I am in the early stages of my fishless cycle?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Looks good! You are actually finishing up the first stage of the cycle (amm>nitrite). Just keep redosing your amm back up daily when it drops below 2ppm. You should be seeing ammonia zero out completely in 24hrs in the very near future. Your also starting the second stage (nitrite>nitrate) because you are now seeing a big increase in nitrates. Just make sure you are checking your ph daily along with everything else- changes can slow or stall a cycle.
I've decided to log my water tests here each day so the wise sages of this forum can have the data just in case they see something I need to tend to and to allow others to have something to compare to. As a reminder the first day that the tank was set up was 3/25/12
I did not test ph or high ph on the first two test days. In addition I am dosing ammonia back up to 4.0 ppm daily.
3/29/12
Ammonia 4.0ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
4/3/12
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
4/4/12
Ammonia .50 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 160 ppm
ph 7.6
High ph 7.8
I did not test ph or high ph on the first two test days. In addition I am dosing ammonia back up to 4.0 ppm daily.
3/29/12
Ammonia 4.0ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
4/3/12
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
4/4/12
Ammonia .50 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 160 ppm
ph 7.6
High ph 7.8
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Your tank is making great progress! Keep up the good work & keep us posted!
Today's water test added to log:
3/29/12
Ammonia 4.0ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
4/3/12
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
4/4/12
Ammonia .50 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 160 ppm
ph 7.6
High ph 7.8
4/5/12
Ammonia 0.0 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 160 ppm
ph 7.6
Hig ph 8.0
3/29/12
Ammonia 4.0ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 0 ppm
4/3/12
Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 80 ppm
4/4/12
Ammonia .50 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 160 ppm
ph 7.6
High ph 7.8
4/5/12
Ammonia 0.0 ppm
Nitrite 5.0 ppm
Nitrate 160 ppm
ph 7.6
Hig ph 8.0
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Looks good!
Dumb question time. Is it ok to "top off" my tank. Our house is very dry which makes the aquarium act like a humidifier. My water level will drop about 2 inches below the black trim at the top of the tank and I don't like the way it looks and the water streaming from my HOB filter gets loud. Is it ok to "top off" my tank by adding water in between water changes and if so should I also treat the water when I top it off?
jlk
Aquarium Advice Addict
Yep, its perfectly fine to top it off. Treating the water first is a good idea to prevent any unwanted chlorine/chloramines from entering the tank & affecting your good bacteria that are growing quite nicely.
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