[Evilpenguinj]

Hey everyone

I just started adding ammonia to the then tank. It looks like I might have added too much as it's reading around 8ppm right now. Should I just leave it...will it start to drop on it's own? Any suggestions please let me know!

Jason

 

[Fish_Time]

Your best bet would probably be to just drain some of the water out and refil with new declorinated water until you get the level down to where you wanted it.

 

[Evilpenguinj]

So I guess it won't drop on it's own eh?

Jason

 

[prov356]

It should eventually drop on it's own, but I'd do the water changes, since they're so easy to do. I've read that high levels of ammonia can inhibit the nitrifiying bacteria. Not sure what effect it'd have on your cycling time, but certainly won't speed it up. Keep in mind too that it'll only result in an elevated level of nitrite once it does drop, and then that'll result in an elevated level of nitrate. One feeds the other, then feeds the next.

 

[star rider]

if the level of ammonia is too high(usually higher than 4-5 ppm) the level is high enough to kill bacteria..ammonia is after all a cleaner/disinfectant.

do a 50 % water change to get the ammonia lower.
you should be fine.

 

[prov356]

ammonia is after all a cleaner/disinfectant.

Intriguing point. I did a google and found that it disinfects by raising the pH. I would think you'd have to add quite a bit of it, though, to see that happen in an aquarium. See this link.
Aquarium water at 2-4ppm is a very weak, diluted solution compared to what we'd use when cleaning. Interesting point, nonetheless.

 

[Fish_Time]

Quote:
ammonia is after all a cleaner/disinfectant.

Intriguing point. I did a google and found that it disinfects by raising the pH. I would think you'd have to add quite a bit of it, though, to see that happen in an aquarium. See this link.
Aquarium water at 2-4ppm is a very weak, diluted solution compared to what we'd use when cleaning. Interesting point, nonetheless.

I can definetly agree with that, I have noticed my pH goes up by an average of 0.5 (from 8 to 8.5) everytime I add enough ammonia to bring my tank up to 2-3 ppm.

 

[Evilpenguinj]

Hey Everyone

I did a 50% water change and I still have 4ppm of ammonia or a little more. I am confused. I thought it should be going down daily. Is there something I am not doing right? I really want to get fish, but this seems to be taking longer than I thought. Any suggestions welcome!

Jason

 

[prov356]

It takes about 10 days to drop. Nitrite can take another 3 weeks to drop. Unless you can get hold of some used filter media from somewhere, it'll take a few weeks or so for the whole process to complete.

4ppm is a good level to leave it for now. It's been 4 days so I'd wait another 4, and then start testing daily.

 

[kingdave]

Be patient... the ammonia level will drop eventually. Don't rush things, your patience will be rewarded.

 

[Evilpenguinj]

Checked the tank again last night. Ammonia levels still seem to be high...maybe 4ppm or a little below. I checked nitrites and it was .25ppm. So I guess I should just leave it right now? Or should I?

 

[fiupntballr]

One thing I have noticed is if you use stuff like Cycle
it will kick in the Ammonia processing bacteria really quickly

i havent noticed it helping with the nitrite processing portion

 

[remarkosmoc]

I read here that yes you can have too much, but any amount that can give you an actual reading on your test kit isn't too much.

 

[jsnipper]

if you dont have any fish then i wouldnt worry about it too much now.. just be patient and make sure you dont do this once fish are in the tank because a lot of fish cant handle drastic changes like that

 

[Evilpenguinj]

For those of you following my saga. I checked the Ammonia today at it's reading aroung 1ppm. I checked the nitrites and it's reading between 3ppm and 5ppm. So where do I go from here? Do I need to add more ammonia? If so how do I make sure that I don't add to much (i believe my ammonia is a 5% solution). Basically I don't want to screw this up! What do I do next?

Jason

 

[wheatbackdigger]

Its hard to screw up...the way I do it, I would bring my ammonia back up to 2-3 ppm...test everday, and add enough to bring it back up to the 2-3 ppm (daily). If I remember correctly, it took almost three weeks for my Nitrites to drop back to 0. Be patient, this takes the longest, it will happen. After my nitrite dropped to zero, my nitrates were off the chart and took a series of partial WC's to get them down.

 

[Fish_Time]

What worked for me was adding enough ammonia to get the level up to 2 ppm. I added that amount to my tank every 24 hours until my nitrites and ammonia read zero 24 hours after adding the ammonia.
I tested my nitrites and ammonia daily right before I added more ammonia. My ammonia level read zero and my nitrites read .25 ppm for about two weeks then one day they both read zero and I knew it had worked. Remimber to keep adding the ammonia daily until you get your fish or all your bacteria will die.
I just recently added 39 Mbuna all about 1 1/2 inches in length and had no sign of ammonia or nitrites.

 

[Malawidolphin]

Add enough amonia to bring it back up to 3ppm. and test every day. keep your amonia at 3ppm and you will know you are finished when your amonia AND nitrates fall to zero within 24 hours of bringing your amonia back up to 3ppm. Test your nitrates as well as they will be climbing. When the cycle is complete your nitrates will be pretty high so you will have to do a fair size water change before adding your fish. Stop adding amonia 24 hours before you get your fish and test your water before your trip to the store! :thumb:

 

[Evilpenguinj]

Ok so I checked the tank today and these are the readings I got.

Nitrate 5.0ppm
Nitrite 2.0ppm (could be 5.0ppm the colours were really hard to tell)
Ammonia 0.50ppm

I added some more ammonia this morning. Is that what I am supposed to do? Am I on track?

Jason

 

[Evilpenguinj]

Anybody?