abmorissun
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I just finished my fishless cycle last week and stocked it with African dwarf frogs and guppies. Finally.
All in all, it took well over 100 days (~50 days testing with dead test strips). I spent weeks and weeks waiting for my nitrites to disappear and they never did until I quit adding ammonia. 4ppm ammonia would clear before 2 days and the nitrites would clear around 4 days. My plain tap water reads 40 - 80 ppm nitrates (I did 4 80% partial water changes before stocking and I still had nitrates), so I have no real way of telling what that level is. pH didn't change much from 7.6. I read another post that recommended cutting back the ammonia dosage when nitrites show up, as a given part of ammonia is converted into several more parts of nitrites. I figured I was done when I saw yellow and blue twice over a week (no ammonia or nitrites).
All tests this week indicate 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrites, with 4 guppies and 2 ADFs. I fed the fish twice a day and the frogs 3 times this week. The water is clear. According to aqadvisor, this stocking level is about 89%.
Whatever works. I'm thinking the important part is how fast the bacteria converted 4ppm ammonia and that nitrites take double that?
I filled this tank with water about the same time I learned I need a nitrogen cycle. I've been lurking the forums for awhile and learned a lot. Thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge. I'll get some video tomorrow.
All in all, it took well over 100 days (~50 days testing with dead test strips). I spent weeks and weeks waiting for my nitrites to disappear and they never did until I quit adding ammonia. 4ppm ammonia would clear before 2 days and the nitrites would clear around 4 days. My plain tap water reads 40 - 80 ppm nitrates (I did 4 80% partial water changes before stocking and I still had nitrates), so I have no real way of telling what that level is. pH didn't change much from 7.6. I read another post that recommended cutting back the ammonia dosage when nitrites show up, as a given part of ammonia is converted into several more parts of nitrites. I figured I was done when I saw yellow and blue twice over a week (no ammonia or nitrites).
All tests this week indicate 0ppm ammonia and 0ppm nitrites, with 4 guppies and 2 ADFs. I fed the fish twice a day and the frogs 3 times this week. The water is clear. According to aqadvisor, this stocking level is about 89%.
Whatever works. I'm thinking the important part is how fast the bacteria converted 4ppm ammonia and that nitrites take double that?
I filled this tank with water about the same time I learned I need a nitrogen cycle. I've been lurking the forums for awhile and learned a lot. Thank you all so much for sharing your knowledge. I'll get some video tomorrow.
