Will my tank cycle?

[Bettafanatic]

Before I start, I just want to say that I'm not here to get ten replies telling me I made a mistake. I know I made a mistake, so don't waste my time reminding me and lend some much-needed advice instead.

Anyways, I've been cycling two 2.5g tanks for three weeks now. At the start when I was adding the ammonia, I couldnt find a teaspoon so I used a tablespoon. I realize my mistake now. I added two tablespoons for the first tank and one for the second.

Three weeks later, the ammonia levels are far above 8ppm. There's so much the tested water turns blue (I have API master kit). So far, there's been no change, besides growing ammonia. The first tanks water is clouded now.

I'm beginning to doubt that my tanks will ever cycle. Will they? Do I need to bring the ammonia down to normal levels before it can? Please help!

 

[swimwithme]

Have you done any pwc's to get the ammo down to 4ppm? If not, I would recommend doing this right away. You probably need to do a 100% water change and re-test before adding ammo back in. Add a little at a time and re-test. What is the % of ammo you are using? This will also make a difference.

 

[ocean]

It no problem, just do water changes to get the amm. Down to 3-4. For those tanks I would dose with an eye dropper, that's what I used on my 2 1/2 gal.

 

[librarygirl]

Yep just do a couple of water changes and test after each one until ammonia is a lot lower. Overdosing ammonia can stall the cycle. I did the same thing when I started lol. It's easy to overdose especially in a small tank. you may need to just add a few drops in at a time, wait 30 minutes or so and then test, then add more drops if you need to. Ammonia is potent stuff. Since the tanks are small you could just dose to 2 ppm of ammonia instead of 4 since you couldn't add that many fish to a small tank anyway and 2 ppm of ammonia should be more than sufficient.

 

[Bettafanatic]

Thank you! I'll start water changes tomorrow. I knew that something was wrong.