# Fishless cycle help



## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

Ok so I started up my tank. I used prime per instructions to dechlorinate tap water. Now I checked tap water ammonia it reads .50 ok before adding the dr Tim's ammonia I checked tank just to see what I'm starting with. The funny part is here where it reads 2.0 and I've not added any ammonia. Is that a problem? Now I did go ahead and added 4 drops of Dr Tim's ammonia to bump up the ppm to around 3.0 my thing is why would I read higher in tank than tap without adding any additional ammonia? It is a 10G tank


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

If you are using a bottled bacteria product then you need to follow the mfg instructions.


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> If you are using a bottled bacteria product then you need to follow the mfg instructions.


I'm not using any bacteria, just the dr Tim's ammonia chloride. I did use prime to dechlorinate the water which could possibly be the reason it done this? But don't think any of this is a problem since I have 2ppm ammonia, it should just be test and watch for that to drop to 0ppm now correct?


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Sounds like you are OK. Just test everyday or so till ammonia goes to zero. Then re-add ammonia again and monitor Nitrites.


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## aausa1983 (Apr 6, 2016)

You will not get accurate results when you test while using Prime and any of the bacteria in a bottle.


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

aausa1983 said:


> You will not get accurate results when you test while using Prime and any of the bacteria in a bottle.


Well how then do I know if I've got enough ammonia in there to grow bacteria?


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

Ok now I am a bit confused. I tested today and my ammonia is up to around 4ppm and I haven't done anything since 1st day. So I shouldn't be seeing a rise in ammonia without adding anything else should I?


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## Deeda (Oct 12, 2012)

What are you using for your substrate?


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

Deeda said:


> What are you using for your substrate?


Gravel


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

How big is your tank, that you add 4 drops of ammonia and it goes to 3ppm?


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

tanker3 said:


> How big is your tank, that you add 4 drops of ammonia and it goes to 3ppm?


Its 10G my ammonia was 2ppm before I added anything to start, my tap has .50 then I'm assuming the dose of prime may have raised it on up to the 2ppm, that was when I checked it next day. Then I went ahead and dropped just four drops of Dr Tim's ammonia chloride to bump it up just a tad. Then yesterday I tested it was still 2ppm. Then today it was up to 3-4ppm.


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

OK. I would not be overly worried about the exact ammonia ppm now. I would measure everyday till the ammonia goes to zero, then go from there.

It could be just the Prime that is affecting your measurements.


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## DJRansome (Oct 29, 2005)

I find the change in results odd too. Prime is supposed to give 0.25 ammonia reading...not 2ppm. Something still to be discovered about what happened there.


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

DJRansome said:


> I find the change in results odd too. Prime is supposed to give 0.25 ammonia reading...not 2ppm. Something still to be discovered about what happened there.


Well my tap had .50 so that still would not be but .75ppm but as long as it doesn't go any higher, I'm not gonna worry to much about it. Just wait for the drop.


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## Richard M (Apr 16, 2016)

What is the source of your tapwater? Ammonia in water is usually a sign of organic contamination, such as by sewage/wastewater; Ammonia-N is one of the basic tests we do on receiving waters to check for impacts from wastewater discharges.

It's not normal to find it in piped city/town water supplies as any residual ammonia that may be present in the source water is usually zapped by chlorination.

If you're using well-water in an area with septic tank systems, that could be an explanation.


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

Richard M said:


> What is the source of your tapwater? Ammonia in water is usually a sign of organic contamination, such as by sewage/wastewater; Ammonia-N is one of the basic tests we do on receiving waters to check for impacts from wastewater discharges.
> 
> It's not normal to find it in piped city/town water supplies as any residual ammonia that may be present in the source water is usually zapped by chlorination.
> 
> If you're using well-water in an area with septic tank systems, that could be an explanation.


My water source is from a rural water Dist, im not on well water.


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## aausa1983 (Apr 6, 2016)

Bsud said:


> aausa1983 said:
> 
> 
> > You will not get accurate results when you test while using Prime and any of the bacteria in a bottle.
> ...


If you are doing a fishless cycle, then why do you need Prime? You shouldn't have to use it and then you can always check your ammonia levels. I did a fish cycle and so I had to use Prime to detoxify my tank so that it would not harm my fish. Therefore, I would have to wait 24-48 hours after adding Prime before I could get an accurate result. In fact, I still have to wait 48 hours after using Prime (when I change my water) if I want to test for ammonia.


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

Ok its been ten days and I've still got around 4ppm ammonia. I did test the PH today and it's around 6.6 also test for nitrites which was 0ppm. Am I still good or is something wrong?


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Your PH is too low. Bring it up first.


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

tanker3 said:


> Your PH is too low. Bring it up first.


Can you tell me the best way to raise it?


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## tanker3 (May 18, 2015)

Sodium Bicarbonate.


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## dledinger (Mar 20, 2013)

Wow..that PH is low.

As far as the ammonia....I agree. Don't stress the level too much, just don't add any until it drops substantially. My test kits have never read "0". They always show slightly greener than the chart indicates. It's not the Prime, either. They do the same with distilled water.


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## Bsud (May 15, 2016)

dledinger said:


> Wow..that PH is low.
> 
> As far as the ammonia....I agree. Don't stress the level too much, just don't add any until it drops substantially. My test kits have never read "0". They always show slightly greener than the chart indicates. It's not the Prime, either. They do the same with distilled water.


Ok I tested my tap pH and its 7.6, but my tank was 6.6 I added a bit of baking soda and my tank pH is now around 8. So for now I'm gonna leave it alone and see what happens next few days, just let it do its thing


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