HappyLoner
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Hey All
Me once again...
Im on day freakin 23 now with my fishless cycle. This is taking wayyyy too long... :?
Ok, this is what happened so far. In the beginning I struggled to get ammonia levels to the proper 5ppm, and therefor added way to much ammonia in the process. I discovered this by reading on the Hagen site that you should hold the test vial AGAINST the white background on the testcharts. Ok, after this my ammonia was FAAAR off the charts. :x
I then did a 90% water change to get rid of the extra ammonia. To know how much to add, I did the following calculation...
My ammonia is "industrial strength" which I bought from a guy that manufactures liquid soaps. Yes, its PURE ammonia, at 85% strength. No additives.
Now if my tank holds 252 litres of water divided by 1 million to know how much ml is one millionth.
252 / 1000000 = 0.000252 litres
0.000252 litres * 1000 = 0.252 ml
I need to add 5 parts per million ammonia, so I must add...
0.252 * 5 = 1.26 ml
Kewl! Now my ammonia is only 85% strength, so...
(1.26 / 85) * 100 = 1.48 ml (to convert the 85% to 100%)
I then took into account that the ammonia might be a bit old (not confirmed) and the bottle have been opened a few times, so I decided on 2.5ml ammonia to add per day. Maybe this was too much.. but anyway...
This is how my reading went from just before this up to now
Day 11 - AM: 5++ (This is where I realised my readings were to high and did the 90% water change. Added 2.5ml ammonia.)
Day 12 - AM: 1 NI: 5++ NA: 45 (Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 13 - AM: 0 NI: 5++ NA: 100++ (Realised its no use testing for nitrates until both ammonia and nitrites is 0. Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 14 - AM: 0 NI: 5++ (Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 15 - AM: 0 NI: 5++ (Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 16 - AM: 1.4 NI: 5++ (Wow! Why the sudden Ammonia? I decided to reduce ammonia to 2ml. Added 2ml ammonia)
Day 17 - AM: 1.4 NI: 5++ (Added 2ml ammonia)
Day 18 - NOT TESTED (Added 2ml ammonia)
Day 19 - AM: 2.4 NI: 5++ (This cannot be happening! Added 2ml Ammonia + filter squeezings from established tanks. Also added more bio-balls and chemical filtration to the canister filter. Did not take anything out of the filter or replace anything, only added!)
Day 20 - AM: 2.4 NI: 5++ (Decided to bring ammonia down to 1.5ml and added that much ammonia)
Day 21 - AM: 2.3 (Added 1.5ml ammonia)
Day 22 - NOT TESTED - HUNG OVER FORM SAT NIGHT! HEHE - Added 1.5ml ammonia though!)
Day 23 - AM: 2.3 NI: 0!!
Can it be? Tested nitrites twice to confirm! I suppose this is good, but can it happen that fast? Just before I tested this, earlier today, I went out on my lunchbreak to get a bottle of CYCLE bacteria to speed up the process. I did not add it to the tank before testing though, I only added it afterwards as to only have an effect on 2moro's readings. I added 40ml of that as recommended on the bottle.
Am I doing something wrong people? Why is ammonia back? Will it go away?
Thanks!
HappyLoner
PS: I know this is one HUGE post, but I think that others might learn from my mistakes here...
Me once again...
Im on day freakin 23 now with my fishless cycle. This is taking wayyyy too long... :?
Ok, this is what happened so far. In the beginning I struggled to get ammonia levels to the proper 5ppm, and therefor added way to much ammonia in the process. I discovered this by reading on the Hagen site that you should hold the test vial AGAINST the white background on the testcharts. Ok, after this my ammonia was FAAAR off the charts. :x
I then did a 90% water change to get rid of the extra ammonia. To know how much to add, I did the following calculation...
My ammonia is "industrial strength" which I bought from a guy that manufactures liquid soaps. Yes, its PURE ammonia, at 85% strength. No additives.
Now if my tank holds 252 litres of water divided by 1 million to know how much ml is one millionth.
252 / 1000000 = 0.000252 litres
0.000252 litres * 1000 = 0.252 ml
I need to add 5 parts per million ammonia, so I must add...
0.252 * 5 = 1.26 ml
Kewl! Now my ammonia is only 85% strength, so...
(1.26 / 85) * 100 = 1.48 ml (to convert the 85% to 100%)
I then took into account that the ammonia might be a bit old (not confirmed) and the bottle have been opened a few times, so I decided on 2.5ml ammonia to add per day. Maybe this was too much.. but anyway...
This is how my reading went from just before this up to now
Day 11 - AM: 5++ (This is where I realised my readings were to high and did the 90% water change. Added 2.5ml ammonia.)
Day 12 - AM: 1 NI: 5++ NA: 45 (Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 13 - AM: 0 NI: 5++ NA: 100++ (Realised its no use testing for nitrates until both ammonia and nitrites is 0. Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 14 - AM: 0 NI: 5++ (Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 15 - AM: 0 NI: 5++ (Added 2.5ml Ammonia)
Day 16 - AM: 1.4 NI: 5++ (Wow! Why the sudden Ammonia? I decided to reduce ammonia to 2ml. Added 2ml ammonia)
Day 17 - AM: 1.4 NI: 5++ (Added 2ml ammonia)
Day 18 - NOT TESTED (Added 2ml ammonia)
Day 19 - AM: 2.4 NI: 5++ (This cannot be happening! Added 2ml Ammonia + filter squeezings from established tanks. Also added more bio-balls and chemical filtration to the canister filter. Did not take anything out of the filter or replace anything, only added!)
Day 20 - AM: 2.4 NI: 5++ (Decided to bring ammonia down to 1.5ml and added that much ammonia)
Day 21 - AM: 2.3 (Added 1.5ml ammonia)
Day 22 - NOT TESTED - HUNG OVER FORM SAT NIGHT! HEHE - Added 1.5ml ammonia though!)
Day 23 - AM: 2.3 NI: 0!!
Can it be? Tested nitrites twice to confirm! I suppose this is good, but can it happen that fast? Just before I tested this, earlier today, I went out on my lunchbreak to get a bottle of CYCLE bacteria to speed up the process. I did not add it to the tank before testing though, I only added it afterwards as to only have an effect on 2moro's readings. I added 40ml of that as recommended on the bottle.
Am I doing something wrong people? Why is ammonia back? Will it go away?
Thanks!
HappyLoner
PS: I know this is one HUGE post, but I think that others might learn from my mistakes here...