3 out of 4 dead, 1 left, PetSmart won't take it back, help?!

[JackSpadesSI]

I'm not disagreeing with whether or not it will work to cycle the tank. I'm disagreeing that you had 4 ppm of ammonia in your tank.

I have no clue what amount of ammonia is necessary to cycle a tank - perhaps more (or greatly more) than 4 ppm is fine. I do, however, know math, and I was simply helping OP to determine how much pure ammonia to add in order to reach 4 ppm concentration.

 

[Joyler]

My bad...sorry

 

[librarygirl]

2 teaspoons is nearly 40 times too much ammonia for your small 12-gallon tank! Your actual ammonia level, by the math, was 157 ppm... I'm guessing that the test kit simply isn't calibrated for such absurd quantities of ammonia.

You may want to do a LOT more PWC to get it back down to 4 ppm! 5x 50% PWC would do the trick (from the original overdosage).

LOL OMG really? lol I didn't know how much ammonia to add and did read a site that suggested 2-3 teaspoons so I thought going with 2 I was being ok. The color is matching the 4.0 kit on the API scale though; it may be a shade darker but not as dark as the 8.0 which is where it was after the first 2 teaspoons. I'll change some water and test again to make sure it isn't too high, I can always add a drop or so more if I go under 4. Thanks!

Could that be why my tank is a bit cloudy and it's very slimy feeling in there (the walls, decor) and the filter is a little gross. Blech.

 

[librarygirl]

OK I just did a 4 gal water change. The green of the ammo test looks maybe a shade lighter than it did before the pwc. Here are pics of the test. It looks like 4.0 to me. Am I right? (sorry, I know my questions are inane)

 

[j2112j]

I've been staring at my test colors for so long I can't tell the difference any more

Your pic of the ammo looks 4.0 to me.

 

[Joyler]

I've been staring at my test colors for so long I can't tell the difference any more

Your pic of the ammo looks 4.0 to me.

Ditto

 

[jetajockey]

Given that the difference between 4ppm and 8ppm is just a slight shade, I would do WCs till you drop it down to a lower level and then build it back up. 4ppm is good for a fishless cycle, 8ppm can stall the bacteria, and potentially even kill it off.

 

[librarygirl]

Given that the difference between 4ppm and 8ppm is just a slight shade, I would do WCs till you drop it down to a lower level and then build it back up. 4ppm is good for a fishless cycle, 8ppm can stall the bacteria, and potentially even kill it off.

Thanks. So how would I know if it's stalled? Or should I just do the pwc and start again to be safe? I only started the fishless cycle 5 days ago (the tank did have fish in there for 3 weeks and I used the same filter but I changed most of the decor and all the substrate afterwards; I now wish I had saved some of the substrate and put it in a net or something in there but at least I still have the filter even though I mangled it trying to get the carbon out). So after 5 days I probably wouldn't be seeing any nitrites yet would I? Maybe I'll wait another few days and if there's still no nitrites I'll try another pwc. I don't want to mess with the cycle by doing too many pwc either.

The green in the tube above is a lot lighter than it was just after I put the 2 teaspoons of ammo in. After that it was definitely the 8.0+ green, very dark, so I'm inclined to think it isn't 8.0 at least. Thanks for helping!