When i start to see ammonia being consumed in 24h and nitrite going off the charts i do a water change to bring them to readable levels then dose the ammonia up to 1ppm. This means your nitrites are being kept lower. You can then up the ammonia dosing back up to 2ppm when the 1ppm is being fully processed out in the knowledge that some nitrite is being processed.
Whether you want your cycle to be processing 1ppm or 2ppm ammonia or more depends on your stocking plans. If you plan on a light stocking to start with, then processing 1ppm per day is fine. If you plan on a more moderate stocking straight away, then you probably want to up this 2ppm. I always start with a light stocking, so just wait for 1ppm to process out. In reality, a normally stocked tank wont produce close to 1ppm ammonia per day.
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Originally Posted by PaulM
Hi Aiken Drum,
Many thanks for your reply. It really is appreciated. I think I’ll do another partial water change to bring the nitrites back down to readable figures. Shall I continue to feed ammonia at 1ppm?
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