New Aquarium Owner! Cycling Help

**CrackFox** · 11-08-2012, 11:53 PM

Originally Posted by 850R

4ppm is too high a concentration for that small of a tank, Go with 2ppm instead.

No idea if that dosage is correct because the standard route to determining what you have dosed is to dose, Then test the water and read the results.

Get yourself an API Freshwater Master test kit to use for this, You will need it.

Thanks very much. I was wondering if 4ppm was too high for a small tank like mine. I'll stick with 2ppm. I have some test kits. I posted the current readings in my first post. I've ordered some Kleen Off pure ammonia (you guys might no be familiar with it, I don't know if it's just a British product) but anyway, it's just ammonia and water and it has good feedback so I'm feeling lucky

**Lady Hobbs** · 11-09-2012, 12:50 AM

Ace Hardware carries pure ammonia. Family Dollar Stores. Sometimes even at Walmart but you need to be careful that it contains no dyes, scents or "detergents". It will be on the ingredient label.

Add no more ammonia than 2. No point in trying to overload your filter with bacteria because it has no place to grow huge amounts of bacteria. Too much ammonia will stall your cycle, as well. Stop adding the bacteria booster when using ammonia.

**CrackFox** · 11-09-2012, 01:22 AM

Originally Posted by Lady Hobbs

Ace Hardware carries pure ammonia. Family Dollar Stores. Sometimes even at Walmart but you need to be careful that it contains no dyes, scents or "detergents". It will be on the ingredient label.

Add no more ammonia than 2. No point in trying to overload your filter with bacteria because it has no place to grow huge amounts of bacteria. Too much ammonia will stall your cycle, as well. Stop adding the bacteria booster when using ammonia.

I'm in the UK so I'm not able to visit those place but i'm very confident that I got some good stuff and yes, I have stopped using the Nutrifin Cycle since I read that it was pretty pointless anyway. Another thing is that i'm using test strips when I should probably be using the liquid testing kits. I've spent so much money on everything already. These fish are gonna bankrupt me ^^'

**CrackFox** · 11-19-2012, 04:20 PM

Just a little update. It's now day 6 and still no nitrites according to my testing strips. It's hard to tell, when I pull the strips out of the water they read 0 but after about 15 minutes they turn pinkish on the nitrite indicatator, maybe that's just because it's sat for a while and the water has dried on it. I'm hopefully getting my api liquid nitrite test kit tomorrow so i'll know for sure. Ammonia may be dropping, it's hard to tell, orginally I read the test as 3ppm/2ppm, now i'd say it was firmly around 2ppm. Like I said, it's hard to tell. I just really hope I start to see some proper nitrite readings soon.

**imma24** · 11-19-2012, 04:26 PM

If you're able to get an "all in 1" liquid testing kit that gives readings for all 3 things (ammonia, nitrites & nitrates), that would be your best bet - you might feel like you're going broke, but a liquid kit gives you many more tests for your dollar - strips (as you can see) are not only not accurate, but they are expensive in the long run.

You should give the ammonia a few more days to start dropping - I'm assuming the container the strips come in tell you how long to wait to get a reading? In the liquid kits, the instructions tell you exactly what to do from shaking the vial to how long until you can read the color.

**Lady Hobbs** · 11-19-2012, 05:11 PM

Originally Posted by CrackFox

Just a little update. It's now day 6 and still no nitrites according to my testing strips. .

I take it you are still cycling with flakes? If so, then nitrites will take you longer. The food has to rot before it even starts producing ammonia so obviously this takes longer to reach the nitrite stage than just pouring ammonia in the tank and getting an ammonia reading immediately.

**CrackFox** · 11-19-2012, 06:16 PM

Originally Posted by Lady Hobbs

I take it you are still cycling with flakes? If so, then nitrites will take you longer. The food has to rot before it even starts producing ammonia so obviously this takes longer to reach the nitrite stage than just pouring ammonia in the tank and getting an ammonia reading immediately.

I was cycling with flakes for around two weeks. I switched to pure ammonia 6 days ago, still no results but i've read countless times it can take a while. 2ppm doesn't seem like a lot but it's only a 15 gallon tank.

If you're able to get an "all in 1" liquid testing kit that gives readings for all 3 things (ammonia, nitrites & nitrates), that would be your best bet - you might feel like you're going broke, but a liquid kit gives you many more tests for your dollar - strips (as you can see) are not only not accurate, but they are expensive in the long run.

You should give the ammonia a few more days to start dropping - I'm assuming the container the strips come in tell you how long to wait to get a reading? In the liquid kits, the instructions tell you exactly what to do from shaking the vial to how long until you can read the color.

No, actually the test strips don't have instructions that state how long they take to develop. Very odd I know, I wont be using them again. I already have an api test kit that I've been using to check the ammonia levels though. It's a lot more precise than the ammonia strips.

**imma24** · 11-19-2012, 06:46 PM

Originally Posted by CrackFox

No, actually the test strips don't have instructions that state how long they take to develop. Very odd I know, I wont be using them again. I already have an api test kit that I've been using to check the ammonia levels though. It's a lot more precise than the ammonia strips.

Does your API kit also test for nitrites & nitrates? It's the nitrites test that will tell you that your cycle is progressing and then finally testing for nitrates is the tail end. Yes, the liquid kits are way more accurate than the strips which is why they are recommended so often.

**Goes to 11!** · 11-19-2012, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by Shidohari

You're just starting your cycle. From what i've heard on this forum, ammonia eating bacteria and nitrAte eating bacteria grow first. the NitrIte eating bacteria take longer to grow.

I would like to mildly correct this from post 2.

There's only ammonia eating bacteria and the NitrIte eating bacteria and they show up in that order. Effectively there are no NitrAte eating BB in FW. TrAtes are removed via water changes although plants also utilize them to some degree.

Here is a bit more about what you are trying to accomplish in your tank. [IMO - Ignore the 'drops per dose' for ammonia part of it please, The 'testing to see where you are' method is far more accurate.]

**CrackFox** · 11-19-2012, 08:05 PM

Originally Posted by andreahp

Does your API kit also test for nitrites & nitrates? It's the nitrites test that will tell you that your cycle is progressing and then finally testing for nitrates is the tail end. Yes, the liquid kits are way more accurate than the strips which is why they are recommended so often.

No, I only have a liquid test kit that covers ammonia. I ordered a test kit for nitrite and that should hopefully get here tomorrow. I still haven't ordered the one for nitrates yet since i'm sure it'll be a couple of weeks before that one is needed. It works out roughly the same price buying them separately as it does buying the all in one kit. Buying them in stages doesn't seem as much as an expense, but in the end it is ^^'