Brand new 29 gal fishless cycle question

[Chevy_Cowboy]

Hey guys, I just finished setting up my new 29 gal and did some initial testing.

All that was in the tank at the time of these tests was 29 gallons of city tap water 30lbs of gravel, the emperor 400 and Bio-Coat dechlorinator. The test were done with a new Hagen master kit. Let me know how these results are for initial setup.

PH 7.6
Ammonia 1.2
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 2 Aprox (lowest reading on test is 5 and its deffinatly under that)


Ok, my question is how much ammonia do I add to get the cycle started? I've got janitorial strength ammonia (10%) The link below says to add enough to reach 5ppm but I'm not sure how much that is.

http://www.tomgriffin.com/aquamag/cycle2.html

thanks

 

[Chevy_Cowboy]

Hmm, should straight tap water have ammonia in it? I was alittle confused by the ammount of ammonia in my tank, so just for kicks I tested my tap water.

The tap water actually has more ammonia than the tank water... its at 2.4
is this normal or is my city water treatment plant trying to poison us? 8O

 

[Keeper]

your tap water should not have any ammonia in it.

 

[Chevy_Cowboy]

your tap water should not have any ammonia in it.

Hmm thats what I thought.

We've done both test (tap and tank) twice now and the results are the same... 1.2 (or possibly a tad higher) in the tank and dead on 2.4 out of the tap :?

Is it possible my new test kit from bigalsonline is bad?

 

[Keeper]

It is always a possibility about the test kit....unlikely though. I would contact the city and find out if they register any ammonia in the water at the treatment plant or if they allow certain levels of ammonia to pass. I would be kinda concerned about ammonia in my tap water.

 

[Chevy_Cowboy]

Doh, i missed this part in the test kit instruction booklet

"If the result from the color chart indicates that the ammonia level is above 1.2mg/L you will need to obtain a PH test kit to determine the ph level of your water. Once you have the results of your ammonia test and your ph test, you can use the number charter to determine whether toxic ammonia is present"


on the back next to the color chart is a chart with PH down one side and ammonia test results accross the bottom... if ya lineup a ph of 7.6 and a ammonia of 1.2 it reads 0.03 and 0.05 for

I'm guessing thats within normal even for tap water right?

Sorry for the confusion, I guess I should have read the fine print before getting nervous

 

[Chevy_Cowboy]

Hmm, after rereading this a few times I'm still not completly sure I understand... can anyone with the same brand test kit (hagen master lab) shed some light on this? I never was much good at chemistry lol

 

[tmurphy171]

Hi Chevy,

From http://faq.thekrib.com/begin-cycling.html

"The exact concentration at which ammonia becomes toxic to fish varies among species; some are more tolerant than others. In addition, other factors like water temperature and chemistry play a significant role. For example, ammonia (NH3) continually changes to ammonium (NH4+) and vice versa, with the relative concentrations of each depending on the water's temperature and pH. Ammonia is extremely toxic; ammonium is relatively harmless. At higher temperatures and pH, more of the nitrogen is in the toxic ammonia form than at lower pH.

Standard test kits measure total ammonia (ammonia plus ammonium) without distinguishing between the two forms. The following chart gives the maximum long-term level of ammonia-N in mg/L (ppm) that can be considered safe at a given temperature and pH."

NH3 and NH4 can revert to either state depending in the water temp and ph level. As Keeper suggested a call to your water department may help pin point the problem.

Hope this helps .

 

[Chevy_Cowboy]

Thanks for the link and explanation tmurphy171, I think I've got it now. Tonights results were the same, 0.03 (I didn't add any ammonia last night)

I added 1ml at a time until I reached 5ppm ammonia (3ml total) I should add this amount daily until the nitrite levels start to rise right?

Thanks again for your help