Fishless Cycling Question?

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That's what I bought. I hope it's right b/c I put it in my tank!! It's stinky stuff. Good luck!!
 
Stephen Rollins said:
Ok so I got the ammonia from ace hardware.

Is this the stuff?
I had them print the MSDS for me. No ingredients are listed so I guess it's just ammonia and water.
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Yep, thats the good stuff!! Same thing I use to cycle in the past & keep my qt cycled. It should last you years. :)
 
jlk said:
Yep, thats the good stuff!! Same thing I use to cycle in the past & keep my qt cycled. It should last you years. :)
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Sweet thanks.

Will post results thanks for your help
 
Day 1: just added ammonia 8.5 ml. Thanks to JLK :)
Tested the water before

PH : 7.6
HIGH PH : is 8.0 ???? What does this mean? Do I even need to test for high PH
AMMONIA : 0
NITRITE: 0
NITRATE : 0

Going to test for ammonia in another hr.
 
No worries! The regular ph test only reads to 7.6- a 7.6 reading can be 7.6 or 8 or 8.8. The ph of 8 is your actual ph. Thank Librarygirl for that great calculator link- she is the responsible party for finding this! :)
 
jlk said:
No worries! The regular ph test only reads to 7.6- a 7.6 reading can be 7.6 or 8 or 8.8. The ph of 8 is your actual ph. Thank Librarygirl for that great calculator link- she is the responsible party for finding this! :)
Click to expand...

The test kit came with a regular ph and a high ph test bottle. Which One do I use
 
For right now, you probably only need to test high ph. If you get a reading on the high test of @7.8 or lower, then you can check with the regular ph as well to see what that reads. The tests overlap some & sometimes the results are not quite black & white but somewhere in between. :)
 
jlk said:
For right now, you probably only need to test high ph. If you get a reading on the high test of @7.8 or lower, then you can check with the regular ph as well to see what that reads. The tests overlap some & sometimes the results are not quite black & white but somewhere in between. :)
Click to expand...

Thanks :)
 
That's a bit strange. I believe the amount of amm you should have added is somewhere @10mls, correct? Are you positive you tested correctly? 8 drops bottle 1, shake, 8 drops bottle 2, shake & wait 5mins. You can also run a control test to make sure the test is working right- add 2 drops amm to some tap in the tube & test- it should turn dark, dark green. I would double check everything & let us know!
 
jlk said:
That's a bit strange. I believe the amount of amm you should have added is somewhere @10mls, correct? Are you positive you tested correctly? 8 drops bottle 1, shake, 8 drops bottle 2, shake & wait 5mins. You can also run a control test to make sure the test is working right- add 2 drops amm to some tap in the tube & test- it should turn dark, dark green. I would double check everything & let us know!
Click to expand...

Oh. Oops my bad. I only used the bottle 1. I thought bottle 2 was an extra bottle. When bottle 1 was empty. I did it wrong.

Will Retest in a few min
 
Ah-ha!!! I would retest your tap ammonia as well. Did you use both bottles on the nitrate test & really shake & bang the bottles for few mins before testing? If not, you may want to retest your tap for nitrates as well. Reading directions before attempting something new is usually a good idea but I know my husband never does this either... lol
 
jlk said:
Ah-ha!!! I would retest your tap ammonia as well. Did you use both bottles on the nitrate test & really shake & bang the bottles for few mins before testing? If not, you may want to retest your tap for nitrates as well. Reading directions before attempting something new is usually a good idea but I know my husband never does this either... lol
Click to expand...

I haven't tested the tap water yet. I set a glass aside and I'm going to test it in the morning.

I just read this to my wife and she laughed at me. She told me to tell you that men never read directions. Lol. ;-)

All I can say is oops. Lol. I read the direction thoroughly now.

Oh and my ammonia is testing at 4ppm now.

Do I wait a couple days to re test? Or am I suppose to test it daily?
 
Stephen Rollins said:
I haven't tested the tap water yet. I set a glass aside and I'm going to test it in the morning.

I just read this to my wife and she laughed at me. She told me to tell you that men never read directions. Lol. ;-)

All I can say is oops. Lol. I read the direction thoroughly now.

Oh and my ammonia is testing at 4ppm now.

Do I wait a couple days to re test? Or am I suppose to test it daily?
Click to expand...

LOL!!!!! Test amm daily if you want to or just wait a few days & test. When you see your amm start to drop then start testing for nitrites as well. When the amm starts to fall below 2 daily, you will need to start dosing amm again to bring it back up to 4. So, basically, initially it's a waiting game for the amm to start to drop, then daily tests amm,nitrite, ph once amm is dropping & redosing the right amount to bring it back up to 4. Test, add & wait. Make sure you keep a close eye on the ph the whole time for changes. We can walk you through no problem! :)
 
jlk said:
LOL!!!!! Test amm daily if you want to or just wait a few days & test. When you see your amm start to drop then start testing for nitrites as well. When the amm starts to fall below 2 daily, you will need to start dosing amm again to bring it back up to 4. So, basically, initially it's a waiting game for the amm to start to drop, then daily tests amm,nitrite, ph once amm is dropping & redosing the right amount to bring it back up to 4. Test, add & wait. Make sure you keep a close eye on the ph the whole time for changes. We can walk you through no problem! :)
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot jlk :)
 
Now is the hard part.... patience!! Do you have access to any cycled media (friend, lfs, etc)? This is the quickest way to jumpstart a cycle. Angelsplus sells live, 'active' (cycled) filters if you are interested in trying this route (Sponge Filters for aquariums). Your tank will still cycle without any help though but patience is the key! :)
 
jlk said:
Now is the hard part.... patience!! Do you have access to any cycled media (friend, lfs, etc)? This is the quickest way to jumpstart a cycle. Angelsplus sells live, 'active' (cycled) filters if you are interested in trying this route (Sponge Filters for aquariums). Your tank will still cycle without any help though but patience is the key! :)
Click to expand...

I know I hate patience. !!! Lol

No and I have no access to cycled media

I have retested the tank and my tap water. I'll post the results here in a few
 
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