Math Check and Fishless Cycle

[Arinon]

I’m about 2-3 days away from water in my tank. Going to be doing a fishless cycle and I wanted to make sure I don’t OD the tank or get myself into more work then I need.

Assume 70 gallons or 265L of tank water
This gives (1ml/1000L) * 265L = 0.265mL of ammonia to equal 1ppm
I’m working with a 4% ammonia solution
This gives 100/4*0.265ml = 6.6ml of solution
Therefore I’m looking at approx. 33mL of 4% solution to get my tank up to 5ppm

Also, when I’m running fishless what’s a good temperature to keep the water at? I hear warmer temperatures then what fish would want help the bacteria along quicker.

TIA

 

[JRagg]

I'm coming up with the same numbers.

What kind of ammonia do you have that is 4%? I did my cycle with pure ammonia, I'm just trying to make sure yours doesn't have any addatives.

I had my tank at about 80-82 degrees and my fishless cycle finished in about a month. I'm not sure if anyone has tried higher temps. If they have I'm sure they'll chime in.

 

[Arinon]

Its just some local brand. Old Country Ammonia All Purpose Cleaner. I contacted the manufacturer CP Industries to ask about it. Its just plain old ammonia at 4% nothing else. Dirt cheap too.

 

[Purrbox]

I'd recommend doing a partial dose just in case your math is off, maybe enough for 1ppm, and then test. That will tell you if you did it correctly and then you can dose the rest of what you need. I've seen lots of times where it was all calculated out, others checked and it still turned out to be wrong.

 

[TomK2]

Your math checks out with me too.
5ppm = 5mg/Liter

265L X 5mg/L = 1335 mg total.

4% solution is 40 mg/L

so, 1335/40 is 33.375 ml of a 4% solution for 5 ppm in a 265 liter tank.

Of course, if you have another tank established, just run the new filter on the established tank for 2 weeks or so and you can skip the fishless cycle and add some fish. Or take media from the established filter (say up to half) and put it in the new filter, then do fish or fishless. With a heavily seeded filter, the cycle is very abreviated.

I know that the ACE 10% solution I bought was spot on, Can't hurt to take Purrbox's advice either. Of course, an overdose is just a water change away from correction too. Or put 1/8 ml in one liter, and verify the concentration that way. Ahh, flashbacks to my first chemistry courses......

 

[czcz]

FYI, here's a calc that does the math for you.

Calculating dose is much more accurate than dosing by test kit measurement, btw.

 

[Alshain]

FYI, I have it on good authority that "pure" ammonia is not produced anywhere in the world in mass quantities. I have personally talked with the manufacturer that makes the majority of brands of ammonia (yes, its all the same ammonia with another sticker on it) in the US and he said that even their clear ammonia has <1% of surfacants in it and he is fairly certain that the few other manufacturers in the world are the same way. Even the Ace Hardware brand that people here will tell you works is made by this company. As for the % of ammonia, this refers to the ammonia to water ratio. Water is harmless and you can't find 100% ammonia.

 

[JRagg]

Yeah, I guess "pure" refers to it not having any addatives. You don't want 100% ammonia because it turns gasseous very quickly and the fumes are very toxic. Not to mention ammonium hydroxide is a VERY strong base and at 100% would likely remove skin if it touched you. Heck the 10% stuff was bad enough. I got a small chemical burn from that.

So are you saying that the Ace brand has stuff in it? It says "pure" on the bottle, which to me means nothing but ammonia and water.