Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 24, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 24, 2012 Did you add a bacterial supplement? I added the first batch some days ago. Will add more in two days or so. I don't think it had any effect. And the bacterial supplement STINKS! What kind did you get I know some bacteria supplements need to be added daily? sniped by Alex Which one did you use? I don't remember any of the ones I used stank. Also, some of this stuff really works, but a great bunch of them can be hocus pocus. I used MicrobeLift Special Blend 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted September 24, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 24, 2012 Hmmm. I remember now. I think Sakura mentioned that she's used it before, but did not get any appreciable results. The best one, as I understand it, is Dr. Tim's One and Only. After that, try Seachem Stability. Then, Nutrafin Cycle or Tetra Safestart. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 25, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 25, 2012 Cycle Day 7 ammonia: 4ppm ph: 7.6 nitrites: 0 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 26, 2012 Cycle Day 8 ammonia: 4ppm nitrites: none I'm wondering if ammonia is higher than 4ppm. I use the API test kit and it goes from 4ppm to 8pmm (which is ridiculous imo). 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted September 26, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 26, 2012 That's a huge difference. I would rather err on the side of having less than 4 ppm ammonia than having too much. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 26, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 26, 2012 That's a huge difference. I would rather err on the side of having less than 4 ppm ammonia than having too much. Should I do a water change to bring the ammonia down? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted September 26, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 26, 2012 Yessir, you should! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 27, 2012 Yessir, you should! My tank 110 gallons. How much should I change? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted September 27, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 27, 2012 Do a 50% WC and see how much ammonia is still left. Aim for 3-4ppm, and no more than that. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 27, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 27, 2012 Cycle Day 9 Did a water change and ammonia came down to 2ppm. I'm using the API water kit and it jumps from 2 to 4. It's really hard to tell how much ammonia is exactly in the tank. Should I leave it at 2ppm or bring it up a little bit more. I'm hesitant about adding more ammonia because the test kit jumps from 4 to 8pmm. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted September 27, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 27, 2012 I think you are OK where you are. I know it's annoying to wait, but hang in there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 28, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 28, 2012 Cycle Day 10 ammonia: 2ppm+ no nitrite didn't test for nitrate without any nitrite added second batch of bacteria (don't think this is going to work, but hey, i paid for it might as well use it) 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Ms.Jenny Posted September 28, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 28, 2012 Hang in there! Hopefully those nitrites start showing up soon. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jessicalee Posted September 28, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 28, 2012 Lets help you for future ammonia doses so you know exactly how much ammonia to put in your tank to reach a specific ppm. What type of ammonia are you using? Click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. Enter your tank size, % of ammonia and desired ppm (default is 5ppm)- it will give you the exact dose in mls. I am taking a guess here but if your using the Ace Hardware ammonia, the dose should be @16mls to reach 4ppm. http://www.fishforums.net/aquarium-calculator.htm Next, I have little faith in the bottled bacteria products- they are hit or miss at best and some contain the wrong types of bacteria which will actually interfere with a cycle. Do you know anyone with healthy, cycled tank or pond? Getting some of their filter media is the easiest way to jumpstart a cycle. Another option is to purchase 'active' (cycled) filters from AngelsPlus.com. I can post a link if your interested. Lastly, have lots of patience and make sure you are keeping daily tabs on your ph. When cycling from scratch, it typically takes 2-4wks for an initial ammonia drop to start to occur. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 29, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 29, 2012 Lets help you for future ammonia doses so you know exactly how much ammonia to put in your tank to reach a specific ppm. What type of ammonia are you using? Click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. Enter your tank size, % of ammonia and desired ppm (default is 5ppm)- it will give you the exact dose in mls. I am taking a guess here but if your using the Ace Hardware ammonia, the dose should be @16mls to reach 4ppm. http://www.fishforum...-calculator.htm Next, I have little faith in the bottled bacteria products- they are hit or miss at best and some contain the wrong types of bacteria which will actually interfere with a cycle. Do you know anyone with healthy, cycled tank or pond? Getting some of their filter media is the easiest way to jumpstart a cycle. Another option is to purchase 'active' (cycled) filters from AngelsPlus.com. I can post a link if your interested. Lastly, have lots of patience and make sure you are keeping daily tabs on your ph. When cycling from scratch, it typically takes 2-4wks for an initial ammonia drop to start to occur. I am using Austin's Clear Ammonia. Today I aded 5ml of ammonia to see how much it increases. According to the calculator above, my tank requires 19ml of ammonia to reach 5ppm with 9.5% of ammonia in solution. The problem is that I don't know the percent of ammonia in Austin's Clear Ammonia. I'll test my water in a few hours to see the ammonia level. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jessicalee Posted September 29, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 29, 2012 According to Austin's MSDS, their product is 2% ammonium hydroxide based on weight. I would contact the company though to verify this. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted September 29, 2012 Admin Share Posted September 29, 2012 Lets help you for future ammonia doses so you know exactly how much ammonia to put in your tank to reach a specific ppm. What type of ammonia are you using? Click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. Enter your tank size, % of ammonia and desired ppm (default is 5ppm)- it will give you the exact dose in mls. I am taking a guess here but if your using the Ace Hardware ammonia, the dose should be @16mls to reach 4ppm. http://www.fishforum...-calculator.htm Next, I have little faith in the bottled bacteria products- they are hit or miss at best and some contain the wrong types of bacteria which will actually interfere with a cycle. Do you know anyone with healthy, cycled tank or pond? Getting some of their filter media is the easiest way to jumpstart a cycle. Another option is to purchase 'active' (cycled) filters from AngelsPlus.com. I can post a link if your interested. Lastly, have lots of patience and make sure you are keeping daily tabs on your ph. When cycling from scratch, it typically takes 2-4wks for an initial ammonia drop to start to occur. I am using Austin's Clear Ammonia. Today I aded 5ml of ammonia to see how much it increases. According to the calculator above, my tank requires 19ml of ammonia to reach 5ppm with 9.5% of ammonia in solution. The problem is that I don't know the percent of ammonia in Austin's Clear Ammonia. I'll test my water in a few hours to see the ammonia level. Thate is the best way... Add 5ml in and test the tank... Dont allow it to get to 5ppm if you do it will cause problems. Max is 4ppm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 29, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 29, 2012 Lets help you for future ammonia doses so you know exactly how much ammonia to put in your tank to reach a specific ppm. What type of ammonia are you using? Click the link below and scroll to the bottom of the page. Enter your tank size, % of ammonia and desired ppm (default is 5ppm)- it will give you the exact dose in mls. I am taking a guess here but if your using the Ace Hardware ammonia, the dose should be @16mls to reach 4ppm. http://www.fishforum...-calculator.htm Next, I have little faith in the bottled bacteria products- they are hit or miss at best and some contain the wrong types of bacteria which will actually interfere with a cycle. Do you know anyone with healthy, cycled tank or pond? Getting some of their filter media is the easiest way to jumpstart a cycle. Another option is to purchase 'active' (cycled) filters from AngelsPlus.com. I can post a link if your interested. Lastly, have lots of patience and make sure you are keeping daily tabs on your ph. When cycling from scratch, it typically takes 2-4wks for an initial ammonia drop to start to occur. I am using Austin's Clear Ammonia. Today I aded 5ml of ammonia to see how much it increases. According to the calculator above, my tank requires 19ml of ammonia to reach 5ppm with 9.5% of ammonia in solution. The problem is that I don't know the percent of ammonia in Austin's Clear Ammonia. I'll test my water in a few hours to see the ammonia level. Thate is the best way... Add 5ml in and test the tank... Dont allow it to get to 5ppm if you do it will cause problems. Max is 4ppm Cycle Day 10 ammonia: around 4ppm 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted September 29, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 29, 2012 What are the temp and pH, please? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 30, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 30, 2012 What are the temp and pH, please? temp is 74 (i don't have a heater) ph is 7.6 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member dnalex Posted September 30, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 30, 2012 Those parameters are about perfect. Hang in there. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member redgold54 Posted September 30, 2012 Author Regular Member Share Posted September 30, 2012 Cycle Day 11 ammonia: 4ppm waiting for this to happen is ridic. I'm so tired of looking at an empty tank. And the thought of having to wait MORE weeks to quarantine fish is just out of this world. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted September 30, 2012 Admin Share Posted September 30, 2012 Cycle Day 11 ammonia: 4ppm waiting for this to happen is ridic. I'm so tired of looking at an empty tank. And the thought of having to wait MORE weeks to quarantine fish is just out of this world. Got some live plants? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member jessicalee Posted September 30, 2012 Regular Member Share Posted September 30, 2012 (edited) Plants will definitely help but just make sure they are disinfected first. You can also try here (http://www.angelsplu...ltersSponge.htm) if you do not know anyone that can lend you some cycled media. Just make sure its an 'active' sponge filter- otherwise you are just getting a plain, new filter. Edited September 30, 2012 by jessicalee 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Admin koko Posted September 30, 2012 Admin Share Posted September 30, 2012 Plants will definitely help but just make sure they are disinfected first. Very true http://www.kokosgoldfish.invisionzone.com/forum/index.php?/page/index.html/_/aquatic-plants/how-to-disinfect-your-plants-r262 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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