Cyclcing Questions ... right from the start

[joelbenben]

I began fishless cycling of my new (and first ever) tank (29 gallon) on Saturday night. Carefully following the instructions in the fishless cycling article here (and having read at least a dozen others elsewhere), I started adding drops of ammonia. The article suggested 7 drops as a good start. Long story short: After several rounds of adding drops and testing, I hit 4.0ppm at around 80 drops -- about 4 ml of ammonia. Seemed like a lot to me, but since I was at/near the reading I needed, I assumed I was OK.

The next night, I added the same amount, which resulted in a reading of 8.0ppm (or more -- 8 is the top of the scale.)

Tonight, Night #3, I'm still at the top of the chart even without adding any more ammonia. That's what I would expect, since it's too early for the bacteria to kick in and do their thing. But until they do, I don't understand why I'm adding ever increasing amounts of ammonia that I can't measure. At least one article, by the guy who apparently invented fishless cycling, said it is possible to add too much (several times the required amount), and that triggers all kinds of wild readings that won't be corrected without a major water change and starting all over.

So am I really supposed to keep adding 4ml of ammonia each night, no matter how high the level goes? Or can I just hold off until I detect a drop, and then add half the amount (or perhaps less)?

[pinsonpa]

I've never done a fishless cycle before so I wouldn't take this to the bank. However, the impression I got from the articles I've read is that you add the same amount of ammonia to MAINTAIN the target level of 5 ppm. Since you are now way over that I wouldn't add anymore ammonia until it drops below 5ppm (and when you do add more, wait 30 minutes before testing your water). In fact, you might even want to water change, test, repeat until you get back down to 5 ppm.

I think part of the reason they want you to keep track of how many drops you use is because most ammonia that you buy in the store is diluted with water (some more heavily than others) which makes it hard to have universal directions. One brand you might have to add 10 drops and one brand you may have to add quite a bit more than that.

[digital3]

Pinsonpa is right, the goal is to maintain the Ammonia level (5 ppm). So if you see that the level hasn't dropped you don't want to add anymore until you see the level dropping. After you see it dropping, then you want to add to maintain the level. So yeah, I would suggest you do a partial water change (maybe 25%) then test until you get your level back down to about 5 ppm.

[Wild Turkey]

Yup, maintain 5ppm Brother. A 35% or so water change should put you right where you want to be for a while.

[Sasquatch]

Yeah, I had the same problem too, the article on the site here is somewhat badly written. :c2:

The idea is to maintain a reading of 5ppm, not continually add ammonia. You'll eventually get to the point where you're adding a fair amount on a daily basis, but only once you bacteria kick in and start to become established.

Congrats on the new tank, good choice in doing a fishless cycle and welcome to the AC.