Ammonia, O No Ammonia? That Is the Question.

[Grape]

Hi there! I am new to this forum, and to the aquarium world. I did used to work in a pet store, and learned some helpful information. It's funny, because I said I would never own an aquarium. Here I am, totally changed my mind, excited and ready.

I wanted to do EVERYTHING I could correctly, so that I could have happy, healthy fish. I bought a 20 gallon this week. Have had it set up since Wed., and have been trying to get started on a fishless cycle. So I finally found pure ammonia yesterday, and I'm guessing it must be pretty diluted, because it took quite a bit to get up to 4.0 ppm. I added an air pump, to add more oxygen, and took out some water, to give the filter a waterfall effect, to add even more. I have the temp. up to about °85.

Here's my dilemma.
Everything I've read, says to put the exact same amount of ammonia in there each day, until you start getting nitrite readings, then lessen the ammonia. So it's been 24 hours since I added the ammonia. I tested it, and it's now at 5.0 ppm. My question:

Do I still add ammonia, even though, it's so high?

Could it be, because of the water I took out? It wasn't even 10%. I didn't add anymore water back either. I got 0 nitrite readings.

Anyone who can help me, I appreciate it.

 

[Andysol]

It sounds ok. 5ppm won't kill you, and you can wait a day. A lot of people are very exact on their fish less cycle- but like with most things in life- they're guidelines. I'd wait a day to add more.

Think about it like this- if you dosed up to 8ppm ammonia, it'd be fine- just overkill for any tank. So too high is ok, just add it when it gets below 4. (or buy fast growing live plants from an established aquarium and stock in a couple days )

 

[George9]

Nope. Just leave it. When the ammonia is at 4 ppm, don't add anymore. It will be a few days befor you start to see a drop. But when it drops, that's when you want to add more. But only enough to bring it back to 4 ppm

 

[smallfry53]

I'm pretty sure you don't want to add any more ammonia until it drops to about 2ppm. I have heard that once you get too far above 4ppm it slows/stalls the cycle. 5ppm might be ok, but anything above that you probably want to do a pwc. You don't necessarily want to put ammonia in every day. Test the ammonia and once it drops to about 2ppm dose it back up to 4ppm.

 

[HeatherW]

if you follow the guide they have on here it will take care of you. what you want to do is add ammonia ONLY when it drops. so what you want is to have your tank dosed to 4.0ppm, then when the bb gobble it up you will add more to get it back up to 4.0ppm. make sense? if you add too much ammonia it will stall (I think) your cycle. do not add more than the 5.0ppm. it will take a while for that initial dose to be used up so you will just have to wait it out until then - it may be a week or more until you see it drop again. add water as need when it evaporates, but you do not need to be doing water changes at this point. that is the beauty of doing the fishLESS cycle - less water changes. if you make a post saying you are doing a fishless cycle there are experts on here that will walk you through your cycle. just post your results daily and they will help you out. I am in the middle of doing a fishless on my 90 gallon so I am right there with you. you can check out my thread if you want

 

[Grape]

All of you have been very helpful, and fast! Thank you so much!

 

[librarygirl]

Good advice above. There is a link in my signature called: guide to starting a FW aquarium and the first thing it covers is cycling. It links to the fishless cycle guide on here that will be useful if you haven't seen it yet. Welcome to AA!

 

[Grape]

Update: The Ammonia barely went down. In fact, I'm afraid it was higher than 5 ppm. I think I had looked at the chart incorrectly, bad lighting who knows. Is their a way to bring it down, or do I have to just wait it out? I didn't really want to use live plants right away. Could I just get one of those moss balls?

 

[Andysol]

I'd just let it sit. You're ok. A side benefit of the moss would be that it has bacteria on it already.

 

[boadams87]

Update: The Ammonia barely went down. In fact, I'm afraid it was higher than 5 ppm. I think I had looked at the chart incorrectly, bad lighting who knows. Is their a way to bring it down, or do I have to just wait it out? I didn't really want to use live plants right away. Could I just get one of those moss balls?

It'll take some time, just be patient

 

[Grape]

So no partial water change?

 

[boadams87]

So no partial water change?

If it were me I wouldn't id wait

 

[Grape]

Ok, thanks for the reinsurance. This is definitively a patience building exercise for me. I just keep telling myself it will be well worth the wait.

 

[boadams87]

Ok, thanks for the reinsurance. This is definitively a patience building exercise for me. I just keep telling myself it will be well worth the wait.

That it is for sure. Ur fish will surely thank you.

 

[rotorhead22]

Hi, I also started my first ever fishless cycle this month. To determine how much ammonia to add you can use this handy ammonia calculator for when you need to dose back up to 4 ppm.

http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.

It took me at least a couple of days for my initial ammonia levels to drop; I was probably at about 8 ppm. It will drop. You can also give it a kick start by using seeder material from an established tank.

-rotorhead22

 

[Andysol]

It took me at least a couple of days for my initial ammonia levels to drop; I was probably at about 8 ppm. It will drop. You can also give it a kick start by using seeder material from an established tank.

-rotorhead22

No doubt. If you were going to put a moss rock in there anyways- do It now. That's seeded.

 

[Grape]

Thanks guys!

 

[Grape]

Ok, update!

I waited 3 days, and the ammonia didn't go down. so I did a small water change. And it got down to about 4ppm.

Yesterday, I added a moss ball, and a bamboo plant someone gave me. The moss ball was out of the pet store tank, which I'm hoping is pretty established.
Today, nothing. I know it won't happen overnight, but I like to see progress. I don't really have any seeding material, except for the moss ball. Is this the reason it's taking longer?

Am I going to see progress, or am I doing something wrong? I read that keeping ammonia at 2ppm is better for bacteria. I don't know if this is accurate. Sounds like it's different for every tank?

When should I start seeing ammonia go down?

My pH right is at: 7.5

Could it be my ammonia? The ingrediants read, "Ammonium And Hydroxide Solution" No scents. Clear, BUT I didn't know about the shake method, and I see a lot of foamy bubbles.

Am I going to have to start all over?

 

[Grape]

Please! I need to know if I should restart the cycle tomorrow.

 

[boadams87]

Id do a 100% wc and get the right ammonia tomorrow