Adding ammonia?

[Chill]

So I’m doing a fishless cycle my ammonia levels are staying around 4 ppm without adding ammonia everyday. Should I be adding ammonia everyday or since it’s staying at 4 ppm can I stop adding it til it drops?

 

[skrapeNKA]

When I add ammonia for cycling I never add more until it drops. If it's not dropping you might want to test your nitrItes. I've had cycles where my ammonia wasn't dropping but my nitrItes were off the chart; after a few hefty water changes to lower the nitrItes my cycle picked back up.

 

[Chill]

Nitrites are zero and haven’t seen any yet. Nitrates are between 5-10. Been cycling this tank since June I think I’m doing something wrong but I’m not sure. But Thanks I won’t add more ammonia

 

[skrapeNKA]

Have you tested the nitrAte level on the water you're using? If it's lower than what you have in your tank the nitrogen cycle is moving, just slowly! My first tank I cycled with added ammonia took about 6 weeks before I was moving through 4ppm ammonia in a 24-48 hour time period.


Another thing to consider may be the particular brand of ammonia you're using, anything with added surfactants will screw everything up. The brand I've had success with is ACE hardware brand Janitorial Strength Formula.

 

[Chill]

I think the nitrates in the water were using is about 7. So our water is slightly lower then what’s in the tank. We’re almost at week 7 so hopefully it gets going soon. We got the ammonia at ace hardware too.

 

[1midniterider]

You may actually be over 4ppm ammonia. Try diluting your sample with tap water by 50% and then test. If the ammonia is too high it will stall your cycle. If it is still high then you could do a 50% pwc, to restart the cycle. Don't add any more ammonia until the level drops below 1ppm. I just completed a fishless cycle of a 125G aquarium. Took about 3 weeks, but I did seed it with an old filter.

 

[skrapeNKA]

Any plants in the tank or 'seasoned' media in the filter? You might just need a jumpstart of some existing bacteria to help. I've always had plants in my tanks (fresh from the LFS or cuttings from an established tank) during cycling.


EDIT


Definitely check your water like 1midniterider suggested, I forget some tests top out at 4ppm. Too high ammonia will stall you out just as badly as too high nitrItes

 

[Chill]

I’m using the api test kit and the test thing shows up to 8 ppm of ammonia so i think it would show if it’s higher then 4ppm. I did not use any other media from another tank. If I did get some rocks from a friends tank would that work and help the cycle move along or does it need to be part of the filter? And if I can use rocks about how much would I need from them?
Edit:
the only plants in the tank are two pretty small moss balls

 

[1midniterider]

If you haven't already, check this article on fishless cycling.

 

[skrapeNKA]

Rocks would certainly carry biofilm with them, just make sure to keep them wet in transit. Can't give you any specific info on how many you would need or want, but any is better than nothing! Failing anything else you could always just waterchange down to 2 ppm and start from there

 

[Chill]

Thank you guys so much!!! We tried cycling before but had some issues and had to restart so it’s been a long time trying to get this going. All our fish kept dying so we want to make sure it’s done right and not hurting the fish. That link was super helpful and I think I might try and get some rocks from a friends tank!

 

[Chill]

If we get a filter from another tank that’s cycled is it ok to add it in the middle of the cycle to speed it up? Or should we dump the water start again and add the filter then?

 

[1midniterider]

If we get a filter from another tank that’s cycled is it ok to add it in the middle of the cycle to speed it up? Or should we dump the water start again and add the filter then?

Yes, you can add the filter... No need to dump the water.

 

[King Fisher]

What is your pH?