Dosing Ammonia

drcole · Feb 9, 2016

per suggestion from others on this forum, I am looking to dose ammonia to get my cycle started. The rotting shrimp trick just didn't do it for me. What dosing should I use?? I have a 55 gallon reef ready. Current levels are:
Ammonia 0.25 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
pH 8.0
Temp 78

jd371 · Feb 9, 2016

I know what you mean about the shrimp, I couldn't stand the smell that was coming from the tank. I dosed ammonia and brought it up to 2ppm, then waited a couple of days until it dropped to zero, once I was able to raise it and have it drop within 24 hours the cycling was done. You can use this http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm to determine how much ammonia you need to dose. Remember to use pure ammonia with no additives.

drcole · Feb 9, 2016

Should I dose ammonia and add bacteria at the same time?

jd371 · Feb 9, 2016

drcole said:
Should I dose ammonia and add bacteria at the same time?

I don't see why not. I added Bio-Spira to the tank when I first put the shrimp in, a week later I took out the shrimp out and started dosing ammonia. Around the same time a I started dosing ammonia I added a few small pieces of live rock to seed the dry rock. My tank cycled in about 3-4 weeks, If you're just using dry rock with nothing else it will take longer to cycle.

tankstudy · Feb 9, 2016

You should use Dr. Tims Ammonium Chloride. It comes with a known concentration and directions on how much to use to achieve numbers you want.

On Dr. Tim's site he will also tell you what tank parameters need to be maintained in order for ammonia dosing to work properly, for example, too low of a pH or too much ammonia will halt a cycle.

You can use any bacteria source you want. I used Dr. Tim's ammonium chloride with Biospira and it works perfectly fine.

NeuroticAquatics · Feb 9, 2016

I've used Dr Tims One & Only for my tanks (with their ammonia) and it works great. Takes about a week to cycle.

I agree with the "no smelly shrimp" thoughts. I know some people are against the bacteria additives, but I know the Dr Tims stuff has worked perfectly for me in both FOWLR and reef tanks.