Cycle update

[gRuNg3b0y]

Alright so I waited for a week as "Dave66" told me before I test my 10gal tank. My result (a week after 12/09) was:

12/09

Ammonia - 4.0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

A week after

12/16

Ammonia - 4.0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

Nothing has changed you see. I was wondering if there's anything wrong about the tank. my filtration has, foam, and bio-max that came with aquaclear I was told to remove the activated carbon since that it does not do anything. An advice or suggestions would be really helpful!!

Thanks

[Dave66]

What method are you using to test? Reagent-based or test strips?
Asking because the bacteria are highly efficient at reducing Ammonia to Nitrite to Nitrate. Ammonia should have dropped by at least half and nitrite popped up after a week of leaving the tank alone.

Dave

[gRuNg3b0y]

I'm using API master test kit. Just wanted to add aswell. The ingredients that the ammonia that I use is water, aqua ammonia, and surfactant. Does that affect the cycle??

[gm72]

There's the problem. Only pure ammonia, that which does not contain surfactants or other agents, can be used.

[gRuNg3b0y]

I guess I have to start over the cycle again. It's hard to find pure ammonia though all I can see in the dollar stores are clear ammonia and it has surfactant

[kurly]

I have been told that you can find pure ammonia at hardware stores. Do you have any hardware stores nearby? I bought my ammonia from a General Store named Andersons. Not sure if you have one located near you or not but if you do then I would give that a try.

Good Luck!

[SkarloeysMom]

If you can find an Ace Hardware store near you they have pure ammonia called Janitorial Strength.

[gRuNg3b0y]

We have hardware stores (Home Depot, Lowe's, and Ace) I would definitely try and look for it today!! thanks!!

[Lady Hobbs]

Drain all your water and start over. Pure ammonia should give you your nitrites in a week and sometimes less.

[gRuNg3b0y]

Will do :thumb:

["the"Trinity]

Sorry to hear about your trouble in cycling your tank! Yes Hobbs and others are right - drain your system and start over. Good luck next time!!!

TT

[gRuNg3b0y]

Yeah I kinda messed up the cycle but I'll do it right this time!! I'll give an update in a week or so

["the"Trinity]

Really - don't feel too bad. We started only about a couple of months ago and we didn't even KNOW that it is best to do a fishless cycle!! Since being on this forum we have learned SO much! You are in good hands - rest assured!

Go ahead if you haven't already and invest in a Master Test Kit from PetSmart. The one with the vials for testing - not the paper strips. We held off and held off on buying one of these test kits - we tried to get by with the test sticks. Let me tell you - with the test sticks, you'd be as well buying a crystal ball and placing it on a stand in front of the tank. Our test sticks showed our tank as having .5ppm ammonia. We purchased a Master Test Kit, tested the water for real, and it showed as almost 3.5ppm. Ummm - that's a BIG difference! Time for water changes!!! How they can get away with selling something as inaccurate as the sticks I will never know.

Anyways - good luck again!

TT

[gRuNg3b0y]

Yes I tried the test strips and I don't really trust the result it gave me. So, I bought the API master test kit I also bought a new filter media as well it comes with activated carbon I was told it was not necessary to put it so I'm just gonna place the bio-max and the foam. (mechanical, biological)

And I'm still looking for pure ammonia most of the ammonia I see are clear ammonia that has surfactants. If I cant find it I might try shrimp peel. Has anyone tried this method??

[gRuNg3b0y]

Well I went to walmart today and saw a clear ammonia

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s26/gRuNg3b0y/ammonia.jpg

I shook the bottle and it didn't foam I looked at the back for ingredients and it says, softened water, ammonia, and chelating agent I don't know what a chelating agent is so anyways, I was wondering if this would work as an ammonia source??

Thanks

[gRuNg3b0y]

If you can find an Ace Hardware store near you they have pure ammonia called Janitorial Strength.

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s26/gRuNg3b0y/p951689reg.jpg
Is this the one you're talking about??

[zeon]

I am not the sharpest rock in the pile but I am finding that chelating agents are Nitrification inhibitors. (Inhibitor: A chemical added to another substance to prevent an unwanted chemical change. )
So does that mean they keep the ammonia from breaking down into nitrite throught the cycle?

[gRuNg3b0y]

An update to my tank after I redid my cycle. I bought a new filtration (aquaclear) I bought the one for 70 gallon although I only have 10gal is that bad?? And I also bought Ace's Janitorial strength ammonia it doesn't say what's in it but "SkarloeysMom" said it's pure. So after I drained and add new water in the tank I waited at least 2 hours to let the tank do its thing. I tested it and the result was (after setup):

12/17
Ammonia - 1.0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

I didn't add ammonia yet since I wanted the tank to establish first. After 24 hours leaving it alone I tested the water again to see if there's any progress and to add ammonia and the result that gave me was:

12/19
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 0ppm

To me the result's strange so I took the liberty of testing the nitrate as well and it gave me

Nitrate - 0ppm

I'm sure that my tank's not cycled yet and my question is should I add ammonia in it or just leave it alone some more??

Thanks

[SkarloeysMom]

You need add ammonia until you get to 5 ppm.

(excerpt from Part 2 of How to do a Fishless Cycle - the stickie available on the Beginner Freshwater forum) Now you want to get your tank to read 5 PPM (parts per million) for ammonia. You will slowly add ammonia (by the drop) until you reach this number. I would start with about 5 drops per 20 gallons of water. Add the ammonia and then wait for the water to mix for half an hour or so then check it. Keep track of how many drops it takes because you are going to add that many drops every day until you get your nitrite spike.

For the rest of the steps check out that Fishless cycle stickie. It should guide you through the rest of the process. If you have another question or something is confusing don't hesitate to post and ask.

[SkarloeysMom]

Well I went to walmart today and saw a clear ammonia

http://i148.photobucket.com/albums/s26/gRuNg3b0y/ammonia.jpg

I shook the bottle and it didn't foam I looked at the back for ingredients and it says, softened water, ammonia, and chelating agent I don't know what a chelating agent is so anyways, I was wondering if this would work as an ammonia source??

Thanks

I think this is the same stuff that Megan used when she fishless cycled and she said it was very weak ammonia and took quite a bit more than she expected to get to 5 ppm. You might want to look back at her posts when she was setting up her 20 gallon or you could PM her and ask. It seemed to take a long time to cycle her tank so if you could get the Ace Hardware ammonia you might want to go for that. It has been mentioned on this site many times as a good type to use and when I googled it i found it was noted at a "non-sudsing" ammonia and that's what you need.

[SkarloeysMom]

I also bought a new filter media as well it comes with activated carbon I was told it was not necessary to put it so I'm just gonna place the bio-max and the foam. (mechanical, biological)

Using only the foam and bio-max is the way to go. Save the carbon for if you ever have to clear meds out of your water. That's what its good for.

You probably won't need that new filter media for quite a while. I don't change mine out, just squeeze out the foam in the tank water when I do a water change and that's it. You get most of the junk out without getting rid of your good bacteria. I don't plan on ever changing out my bio-max since that's all about growing good bacteria. I just rinse in the tank water I pulled out during water change same as the foam.

Also, sorry for the delay in responding...I've been Christmas crazy this week.

[gRuNg3b0y]

Oh that's ok it's the holidays I too am busy as well. I also got the ammonia from ace hardware store (Janitorial strength) I'm not sure if my ammonia is 5.0 or 6.0ppm couldn't really read it well So I'm gonna give it a week or so then give an update!

And you notice when you left your tank for a while the level slowly decrease should I leave that alone or add some water if it gets less than 15%??