Is this the right ammonia for fish less cycle

[Cameronv]

Is this the right ammonia to use for starting a fishless cycle?


http://i.imgur.com/zX9Sk.jpg

[DonMD]

Yes, I'm using it right now. I'm about 6 weeks into my cycle, and I'll put a capfull into a 125 gallon, and in 12 hours I read zero ammonia. Still waiting for the nitrites to subside.

[Cameronv]

Thanks for the information don, cycle starts tonight.

[k7prz]

Yes, I'm using it right now. I'm about 6 weeks into my cycle, and I'll put a capfull into a 125 gallon, and in 12 hours I read zero ammonia. Still waiting for the nitrites to subside.

6 Weeks? Does it usually take this long? I thought the fish less cycle was faster than using live fish.
I have a 30 gal with a new Aquaclear 50 that I filled with water yesterday.

Dave in Portland, OR

[DonMD]

More like 8 weeks.

Sent from my ADR6300 using Tapatalk

[k7prz]

I just filled a 30 gal tank with my well water and hooked 3 new (old but uncycled)
filters. A Fluval canister, an AQ 50, and a little cheap submersable with a foam block
about 2 inches square. The ammonia is called Blue Ribbon Clear and has no indication of
strength on the gallon jug. Typical cleaning instruction are 1/2 cup per gal for general cleaning,
and 1 cup per gal of water for tubs, bowls, and tile, etc.
So use the same amount recommended for cycling: 4 drops per 10 gallons of water per day?
Should I seed it once by squeezing a cycled sponge from an existing tank in the beginning?

I'm new to this fishless cycling. I've always moved filters around but got in trouble with nitrites last week
and lost a mated pair.

Dave in Portland

[DonMD]

If you have a cycled filter, why not just use that? Why are you doing a fishless cycle?

Rather than add ammonia every day, I suggest adding an initial dose that will give you about 2-3ppm ammonia. After that dose, it will take a few weeks for the bacteria to develop. If you add ammonia every day, you'll quickly exceed the 3ppm. That seems excessive. You may want to change water from time to time, and then re-dose to maintain 2-3ppm. Once the bacteria develop, they will consume the ammonia and reduce the ppm, but then you'll get nitrite. More frequent w/c's may be needed so as not to go too high on the nitrites, but still feeding ammonia. Once you've got both bacterial colonies going, you can add ammonia daily, and get zero readings after a few hours.

[k7prz]

I'd never done the fishless and just wanted to give it a try---experimental.
I've got cycled filters and tanks sitting around should I need them.
But thanks for the info.

Dave

[lipadj46]

You can always add some tetra safe start to jump start things

sent from my ti-85 during chemistry class