Cycling my 75 gal

FishyFishy89

I got my ammonia. Went to 3 flippin stores! But go it!
Now, do I need to wait a certain time between adding and testing? Do I really have to wait 5 mins for my API test?

Thanks!

FishyFishy89

That's supposed to be "But I got it!"

JDM

Not a cycler here, but once you add the ammonia let it swirl just to mix it, it doesn't do anything other than mix right away, then do your test to see if you put in enough. I check the test right away THEN check again in 5 minutes. I haven't seen a difference but I also haven't had ammonia, nitrites or nitrates ever show more than zero... so maybe you do need to wait if there are some.

Jeff.

FishyFishy89

Well im just using my ammonia piece of my api test kit.

FishyFishy89

Well, I added approx a 1/4 cup into the tank. This is what I appear to be having:

JDM

CRAP!. My heart skipped a beat as I thought this was from another thread for a moment and I was going "no wonder your fish died!"

You might actually have put in too much, there is a level that you should have it at so that it doesn't kill the bacteria that you are trying to grow. The trick is to figure out how much to add each day to keep the level high enough to produce bacteria and low enough not to kill them. Better to start small and work it up than to start big.

Others may know better but I might guess that you will actually have to change the water out to lower the level... wait for someone who knows how to cycle to chime in before doing anything else.

Oh, you don't need to start using the other parts of the kit yet, next is to watch for the nitrites, but that takes while.

Jeff.

FishyFishy89

I've read to basically raise the ammonia to 4ppm and let the cycle grow.

JDM

Side note, my daughter saw your avatar pic yesterday, she loves pugs and thought it was very cute. We have a small pug ourselves, she's about 14 or 15 years old now.

Jeff.

JDM

Ok, I wasn't sure the level... that's close but hard to tell if it's 4 or 8 or somewhere in between. Now all you should need to do is test it every day to keep it there and watch for the nitrites to start up.

Here is the pure ammonia method from the sticky on this forum:

"This is the most precise method of cycling your tank. It is similar to the fish food and shrimp methods described above but the ammonia source is pure bottled ammonia. It is of utmost importance that you use only pure ammonia, not ammonia-based cleaning products that contain detergents, dyes, scents or any other chemicals as these can be harmful to your fish. How much ammonia to add depends on the concentration of the ammonia you're using but you want to add enough ammonia to bring the concentration of your tank to 3-5 ppm (this is usually 3-5 drops per ten gallons but can vary). Test the ammonia and nitrite levels every day, adding more ammonia daily as needed to keep the ammonia level at 3-5 ppm. Eventually, you'll notice that the ammonia concentration will start dropping, which goes along with an increase in nitrite. Continue dosing ammonia to the same concentration. Eventually, you'll reach the stage where enough ammonia added to bring the tank to a concentration of 3-5 ppm totally disappears within 24 hours, leaving you with nothing but nitrate. At this point the cycle is complete and you can proceed as above. The difficulty with this method is that testing and ammonia dosing have to be done at least daily. Pure ammonia can also be difficult to track down and the risks, should you use ammonia that contains other chemicals, are serious. Unlike the other methods, however, the pure ammonia method allows you complete control over the cycle and lets you know just how much ammonia your biofilter (i.e. the colonies of beneficial bacteria established during the cycle) can process in a given time period."

Based on 3 - 5 drops per ten gallons.... I still think you've too much in there. Again though, I can't tell the colour by the pic very well.

Jeff.

AbbeysDad

Ammonia is toxic....not only to fish, but even to the beneficial bacteria we wish to culture! You added way too much and may need one or more 50+% water changes to get the levels low enough to develop the bacteria.

Less is more.