Cycling question

[Big_Mclargehuge]

Hey! My tank has been on a fishless cycle for about a week. Bac in a bottle and dosing ammonia. I've been testing every day. Ammonia is high (around 8ppm). Nitrites and nitrates have been moving up every day since I started testing the water. Nitrites are at 2.0 ppm. Nitrates are at 20 ppm. I may have dosed too heavy with ammonia but is this moving in the right direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[Copingwithpods]

Yes it is, actually just watched a presentation by Dr. Tim where he explains that you don't really want ammonia above 4ppm as this can slow the cycling process down, it will still cycle just a bit slower.

 

[sprungson]

Hey! My tank has been on a fishless cycle for about a week. Bac in a bottle and dosing ammonia. I've been testing every day. Ammonia is high (around 8ppm). Nitrites and nitrates have been moving up every day since I started testing the water. Nitrites are at 2.0 ppm. Nitrates are at 20 ppm. I may have dosed too heavy with ammonia but is this moving in the right direction? Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

I had the same problem. I initially used Dr Tim's, but I added a second bottle of biospira from Petco. This worked really well for me.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

Yes it is, actually just watched a presentation by Dr. Tim where he explains that you don't really want ammonia above 4ppm as this can slow the cycling process down, it will still cycle just a bit slower.

Thanks! Yeah the ammonia I purchased is powder form and I may have miscalculated how much to use.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

I had the same problem. I initially used Dr Tim's, but I added a second bottle of biospira from Petco. This worked really well for me.

I've been using this stuff called "seed". One of the guys at my lfs recommended it. It was three cap fulls the first day and one and half for seven days after. I always see people just dump the whole bottle of bac in when they do it. Should I just do that to up the bac population quicker?

 

[sprungson]

That's exactly what I did. After that I saw my ammonia at 0 and small traces of nitrite and increase in nitrate. I highly recommend biospira at Petco. It worked really well for me

 

[canadianeh]

I used dr Tim’s ammonia and bacteria. I dumped the whole bacteria bottle as it says you can’t really overdose bacteria. But for ammonia, I followed the instructions and dosed 2 ppm.

you are only 1week in? be patient

mine is still cycling for more than 20 days now. Check out my build thread if you want to see my test results. I am recording it everyday.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

That's exactly what I did. After that I saw my ammonia at 0 and small traces of nitrite and increase in nitrate. I highly recommend biospira at Petco. It worked really well for me

Thanks! I might get some.

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

I used dr Tim’s ammonia and bacteria. I dumped the whole bacteria bottle as it says you can’t really overdose bacteria. But for ammonia, I followed the instructions and dosed 2 ppm.

you are only 1week in? be patient

mine is still cycling for more than 20 days now. Check out my build thread if you want to see my test results. I am recording it everyday.

Yeah I know I need to be patient. I was just afraid I put too much ammonia is all. I don't want it to stall. I don't think it's stalling because my nitrites and nitrates are rising. Thanks!

 

[sprungson]

I used dr Tim’s ammonia and bacteria. I dumped the whole bacteria bottle as it says you can’t really overdose bacteria. But for ammonia, I followed the instructions and dosed 2 ppm.

you are only 1week in? be patient

mine is still cycling for more than 20 days now. Check out my build thread if you want to see my test results. I am recording it everyday.

I was able to add two clownfish on my 6th day, so its OK if he wants to do it quicker. Just as long as the chemistry is right. I kept track of what I did a year ago. Here you go.

 

[Copingwithpods]

I suggest giving this video a watch it will clear alot of stuff up

 

[Big_Mclargehuge]

I was able to add two clownfish on my 6th day, so its OK if he wants to do it quicker. Just as long as the chemistry is right. I kept track of what I did a year ago. Here you go.

Thanks. It looks like the Bio Spira really worked. I may pick some up.