fishless cycle help

[Jeep3000gt]

ok so i started my fishless cyle for my 10 gal aquarium and i need help. so ive been adding 1 cap full of pure ammonia per day for 3 days now and when i test for ammonia it still says 0. is this normal? how long till it shows ammonia?

[Honey Badger 1]

with a cap full of pure ammonia for three days your ammonia reading should be off the chart. are you sure you are using the testers properly. what are you using to test, strips or liquid testers? did you use any seeded media from another filter?

[Honey Badger 1]

ok, so i just did a totally unscientific test on two vials of water using my api test kit. one vial was plain tap water, the other was 4ml tap water and 1ml of "pure" ammonia. the plain tap water tested 1ppm ammonia, which i already knew i had in my tap water. and the vial with the over dose of ammonia showed 0ppm.
i think its safe to say you have overdosed your tank with ammonia. i would tear it down, rinse everything well in tap water and refill the tank. before you add ammonia test the water, there may be enough residual ammonia so you don't have to add any.
if you do need to add some, add only a few drops, not a cap full. wait a couple of hours for everything to mix, and test again. so this until you have 2-4ppm ammonia. and don't add any more until that reading goes down to 0 or close to 0.

[TypeYourTextHere]

I have a 75 gallon that I am cycling at the moment an i only add 4 teaspoons to it to get the ammonia to go to 4 ppm. I would empty out your tank and refill with water with no ammonia like mommy1 said and test it.

IMO i dont think you need to rinse everything, just make sure you drain the filter and the tank then refill (with dechlorinator of course)

I made the mistake of overdosing my tank to start with too, and i had to do a 95% water change and without adding ammonia I tested it and it read 4ppm after adding about 70 gallons of water. the ammonia content in your tank my be through the roof.

[Jeep3000gt]

Okay I'll drain it and add new water with dechlorineator or how ever you spell it. Test the water and if it's say 4ppm just from the water change what do I do? I thought you add a little ammonia each day even when you see nitrites and wait till you see nitrates then do a 50% water change

[TypeYourTextHere]

Okay I'll drain it and add new water with dechlorineator or how ever you spell it. Test the water and if it's say 4ppm just from the water change what do I do? I thought you add a little ammonia each day even when you see nitrites and wait till you see nitrates then do a 50% water change

After you fill and test the water IF it says less than 4 parts per million then ad a few DROPS To the tank and retest. that should do it.

Edit:you need to add a few drops everyday to keep the ammonia level up also.

[Honey Badger 1]

for a 10g you don't really need 4ppm, as lady hobbs is always saying, small tank, small fish. 2-4ppm is fine.
once you get it there just leave it, that's the beauty of a fishless cycle. its easy. don't make it harder than it is.
once you have nitrites, keep the ammonia at 1-2ppm, again let it drop to 0 or near 0 before adding more ammonia.
read this thread, it will answer most of your questions.

http://www.aquaticcommunity.com/aqua...ead.php?t=5640

[Honey Badger 1]

After you fill and test the water IF it says less than 4 parts per million then ad a few DROPS To the tank and retest. that should do it.

Edit:you need to add a few drops everyday to keep the ammonia level up also.

you do not need to add ammonia every day. get it to 2ppm and leave it alone until it drops to 0 or near 0. then bring it back up to 2ppm.

[TypeYourTextHere]

you do not need to add ammonia every day. get it to 2ppm and leave it alone until it drops to 0 or near 0. then bring it back up to 2ppm.

I thought it was 4 ppm. that is what i have had mine at and i have no issues, of course 10 gallons is a lot smaller with less of a need for BB.

[Honey Badger 1]

4ppm for large tanks with lots of fish or larger fish. 2ppm is fine for smaller tanks that can't house large fish or lots of fish.