brown slime

[rdnelson99]

right let me get this right once and for all while the system is cycling the amonia will rise level out then fall to 0 right.also the nitrite will rise then fall to 0 right. then the nitrate will settle (what level is acceptable) and the bacteria turns the amonia into nitrite then into nitrate. and the only way to get nitrate away is to do a pwc am i right

That is correct. PWC is the only way to reduce nitrate and it should be as close to 0 as possible but not above 20.

 

[craig_will2513]

thank you for making that simple pal.. so once amonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrat is anything below 20 my tank is cycled and good to go right

 

[rdnelson99]

thank you for making that simple pal.. so once amonia and nitrite are 0 and nitrat is anything below 20 my tank is cycled and good to go right

With one condition (there is always a condition LOL). If you give it a couple drops of PURE ammonia and you see it cycle quikly then you are good to go once Nitrates are down below 20. If the cycle does not happen quickly (that is a relative term by the way) then you may want to wait a bit longer and keep dosing with a bit of ammonia. I had my tank running for two weeks with very good live rock and live sand. I suspected it had already cycled but wasn't sure. I heard about using pure ammonia (make sure it is pure, the Ace Hardware brand is good) so I decided to try it. Problem was no one said how much. I gave it two small cap fulls for my 45 gal tank. That was enough to make the ammonia reading the next day show off the chart. Within another 12 hours ammonia was almost nil and nitrite was pretty high. Within another 12 hours the ammonia and nitrite were 0 and nitrate was 160+. That told me I had a good sized coloney of BB working hard on my behalf. It is a all a judgement call. You just need to use your best judgement and if in doubt, wait. LOL

 

[craig_will2513]

where can i find amonia. iv seen amonia but its used for cleaning like stain removal is this what i need

 

[rdnelson99]

Not sure in the UK. In the states we have a hardware chain called Ace Hardware. They sell pure ammonia. It is mostly used for cleaning but you have to be carefule they don't put other things in it. I have heard that if you shake it and you can see bubble it is not pure but I can't verify that myself.

 

[craig_will2513]

thanks mate you have been a big help