cycling with ammonia

[pinkjello]

Hi!
has anyone cycled with ammonia? how would you compare that to general cycling with gung from another tank..?

[seanyuki]

Hi Gwyneth


Add Ammonia (NH3) and keep this at 4-5 parts per million (use a liquid test kit daily to keep this level steady)

After a few weeks you will start to see NitrIte (N02) keep adding the Ammonia which will convert to NitrIte and eventually NitrAte, when the NitrIte has disappeared on the test kits you will be ready to introduce fish (not too many though), you must keep the NitrAte levels low with water changes as it will slow down and impede the cycle otherwise.

Cheers
Francis:)

[jjhdiscus]

Hi Gwyneth,

Yes I did,with no problem and no dead fish. The peramiters that Francis spelled out below should work. It was also my first tank and I had no "gung" to borrow from. My next 4 tanks were cycled with "gung", much easier.

Good luck,

John

[seanyuki]

Hi Gwyneth,

Getting more lazy these days.....no gungs from other tanks....just everything brand new...new heater,new sponge filter....all stuffs new new new.
By adding new fish and monitor the feedings...the bio will estabish slowly plus plenty water changes of course....why risk the stuffs from another tank where as the the old discus has immune from that culture and could be fatal to the new arrivals:)

Cheers
Francis:)

[pinkjello]

If my tanks have been disease free and perfectly running for a long time - a few years - should i be really concerned about problems with the gung..or not? Can problems with the gung occur during the cycling process or when the discus are introduced..?

Also, i introduced gung, ammonia and fish flakes all at the same time..kind of an experiment to see what happens since i have awhile before my discus come. With introducing ammonia into the tank after i have put gung in it..did i just kill off the gung ?? im fully aware i may have to strip everything and start over..but hopefully not :p. too much time on my hands ...discus should just be here when we decide they should be and then i wouldnt be fiddling so much with the new tank lol..

do i need to start over with my cycling?? :o






Hi Gwyneth,

Getting more lazy these days.....no gungs from other tanks....just everything brand new...new heater,new sponge filter....all stuffs new new new.
By adding new fish and monitor the feedings...the bio will estabish slowly plus plenty water changes of course....why risk the stuffs from another tank where as the the old discus has immune from that culture and could be fatal to the new arrivals:)

Cheers
Francis:)

[csarkar001]

i only cycle with ammonia now. (buy it from shoprite - has no additives). its so easy. just takes patience.

[Roxanne]

Do you have a freshwater test kit? If you do, what are the readings?

Roxanne

[pinkjello]

i added a lot of ammonia the day before to get it to about 4 or 5..and when i checked last night it was still the same ..

will check again tonight when i get home..and ill post the numbers..

[pinkjello]

nitrate - 0.1
ammonia - 4.9-7.3

so not much is happening yet..was like this yesterday too. I just started the ammonia two days ago.

so this is what i read - when the ammonia goes down to 1, top it up again to get to 4.9..and keep doing that every day until the ammonia goes to zero. Then test for nitrites. They should be very high. Keep adding ammonia at that point until the nitrites go down to zero and the cycling is done.

is this correct?

[Roxanne]

Pink, 7.3 is too high. You need it around 4-5ppm maximum or it will take forever...test it again, if it is alot more than 5ppm, change out some water and leave it alone for a week or two, test again & post the results here. Keep the temp at around 30 degrees, the bacteria will not die at lower temps, but will not multiply as fast...make sure ph is 7-7.4 maximum.

...nothing will happen for a while, it's like watching grass grow if you keep testing it...

[discusjoe27]

ok what if I see ammonia,nitrite,and nitrate? I think my problem is when I test it I used different bottles from 3 different sets of api test kits. I guess I could go get test up the road at a good LFS. it's only a 1.5 mile drive plus I need to put gas in my mini van/wagon, what ever people call a scion XB.

[pinkjello]

Hi,
I actually did a water change last night - and put some gung in instead ...plus i put in the new wood that i bought, but although it was washed it bled out over night so i have to do another water change again anyways. Hopefully the gung will go a little faster then the ammonia..

as far as the tests colors go - the colors never match whats on the books..and the range was between 4.9 and 7.3..as it was a little darker then 4.9 but not as dark as 7.3..unfortunately my kit doesnt show anything but those two numbers so i couldnt tell you what the actual number was. Im going to go buy another kit.

ill keep posting numbers.
thx

[kaceyo]

Hi,
I actually did a water change last night - and put some gung in instead ...plus i put in the new wood that i bought, but although it was washed it bled out over night so i have to do another water change again anyways. Hopefully the gung will go a little faster then the ammonia..

as far as the tests colors go - the colors never match whats on the books..and the range was between 4.9 and 7.3..as it was a little darker then 4.9 but not as dark as 7.3..unfortunately my kit doesnt show anything but those two numbers so i couldnt tell you what the actual number was. Im going to go buy another kit.

ill keep posting numbers.
thx

Hi pj,
Once you get the ammonia between 4 and 5ppm, don't do any wc's. That just removes the ammonia you added. You can test for ammonia with the same test kit you've been using, and just add small amounts of ammo at a time, testing after each addition untill you reach 4.9 +/-. That way you know it's not too much.

[Roxanne]

ok what if I see ammonia,nitrite,and nitrate? ...

It means your cycle is happening. How long has it been going for DJ?