is there such thing as too much?

[bigbad-ratman]

so, started my 10gal tank cycling for my children who will be coming down for summer very shortly, and i may have added too much ammonia to my little tank. when i test it, the sample maxes out on the color scale after only a few minutes, test says give 20. should i start over with an empty tank or is it ok, to just let it sit and let things go as they will? thanks in advance for your help.

[Sharon]

I'd empty it and start over...Ammonia should be at 5ppm to begin cycling.:ssmile:

[PostalPenguin]

I would do a 75% water change and retest. Ammonia will kill bacteria at that high of a level so no cycling will happen until the ammonia decreases through evaporation which could take awhile leading to a long cycle.

To cycle my 10g I found that 1 -3 drops of ammonia was all it took to give me 2ppm of ammonia.

[DrNic]

I would do a 75% water change and retest. Ammonia will kill bacteria at that high of a level so no cycling will happen until the ammonia decreases through evaporation which could take awhile leading to a long cycle.

To cycle my 10g I found that 1 -3 drops of ammonia was all it took to give me 2ppm of ammonia.
I agree with this, I would either do a really large water change or even a complete water change, and see what you get for readings. Assuming you can get the ammonia down to a better level it might also help to re-seed with bacteria if you can, in case the ones in the tank got killed.

[Northernguy]

How much did you add?
Only a few drops at time,or even a quarter capful.You have to go real easy with it a test in between to get your ppms right.
Take it slow. lol
Massive water change and wait 20mins and test.If you are still reading high,do another water change.
You will get it.

[timfee]

It's quite easy to work out how much ammonia to add. For a 10g tank it's about 0.2ml to bring it up to 4ppm. The ammonia solution I have been using is 9.5% ammonia so to bring it from 0 to 2 ppm I've been measuring out 1ml of the solution and adding that every day.

[bigbad-ratman]

thanks for the info. i changed out the water...twice as i tried to do partial changes. finally even my wife realized that i should just change out the water. so after all of that i am sitting at three for meow. so we have started to rock on roll!!! thanks again everyone!