Dr Tim's Fishless Cycle High Ammonia

[MindlessToxin]

Hey guys. I kicked off my fishless cycle with Dr Tim's one and only and ammonia chloride last night. It says the ammonia level should never go over 4.0 ppm. I honestly cannot tell if this is too high or not. It looks like 4.0 to me. I probably should have tested to start with to make sure i didn't already have ammonia from my live sand..
These test kits are so hard to read for me lol. Any input? Also if it is too high should I perform a small water change? I don't wanna lose any of my good bacteria.

 

[Mr. Mojo Rising]

Congrats! I would suggest to put away the test kit and come to it back in 2 weeks. You will drive yourself crazy if you test every day. Patience is an important part of our hobby, but being patient during the cycle is so difficult

 

[MindlessToxin]

Good advice lol. Thanks man

 

[jda]

If you did the math right on the bottles, then I would trust it. The math is likely better than the accuracy of the test kit. Just look for the nh4 to come down over time and trust the trend more than the actual test result numbers.

 

[MindlessToxin]

Day 5 update. Getting really excited!

 

[mike89t]

ITS WORKING!!!!

 

[shrimpnreefdude]

Day 5 update. Getting really excited!

That's great! Getting there. Stoked for you. Sooooo close!

 

[Spare time]

PS don't bother testing nitrate until nitrite is gone. Nitrite can make nitrate tests appear as if the nitrate is insanely high

 

[MindlessToxin]

Check it out! 9 days and it looks like I'm good to go! I'm planning on doing a 50% water change and then add a couple of small clownies tomorrow. I also stayed up until 3 in the morning last night rearranging my aquascape lol. I incorporated 2 swim throughs and 2 caves. I'm pretty proud of it. Getting super excited!!

 

[MindlessToxin]

Obviously I didn't take my rock out of the water, careful to not kill of any of my BB. Man aquascapes are not for the faint of heart lol. I was about ready to pull my hair out by the end of it.

 

[tankstudy]

I'd let nitrite completely zero out before a water change. Let ammonia and nitrite zero out before doing any water changes.

The little bit of nitrite can still produce some more nitrate. You can increase your water size change if you end up with more nitrate to a more desirable level in just one go.