Help cycling new tank.

[l300lover]

Alright i just got a 150g tank and I tried cycling the tank with fish which utterly failed. The nitrites were way too high. Its been 3 weeks and the nitrites are finally going down. How do I make sure the ammonia is changing to nitrites? How much ammonia do I add to make it 2ppm of ammonia. And the goal is for that 2ppm to be gone in 24 hours? Sorry for all the questions im a total newbie!

[weedkiller]

If your in usa you want ace ammonia and in uk you want jeyes blastoff household ammonia... to find out how much you will need i would add 20 drips and test after the water has circulated.. about 20+ minutes.. if its not enough add 5 drips and test... (or more if 20 hasnt made a difference to a 150g) so on so on... by the time you get to 2ppm you will know how many drips roughly..
If you have not been adding ammonia you bacteria may be dying off so act fast to keep your cycle going.
I check every 12 hours and keep it at 1ppm when nitrites are high.
There are plenty of threads that explain how to on the forums wighout me going into detail.

[Vayurules]

Your fine, we all do it. As Weedkiller said, pure liquid ammonia is a great cycling technique. Use about 2-3 drop per gallon to dose. Test every 12 or so hours. Id also recommend a bacterial soup like Tetra SafeStart (other examples escape me right now) Are you using APIs freshwater master test kit, or test strips?


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[weedkiller]

No dont add any boosters you already have nitrite you dont need it just ammonia or add crumbled fish flake till you get some,

[l300lover]

So where do i get a dropper for the ammonia?

[l300lover]

And my nitrites are now down to 0 but my nitrates arent even 5ppm yet. Why are my nitrates so low? And im using an API master kit not the test strips the liquid.

[l300lover]

I just added 300 drops of ammonia to my 150g tank about 20 minutes ago and it now says the ammonia is at 2ppm. Now what do I do?

[Vayurules]

Wait for it to cycle to nitrates. Patience is key.


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[l300lover]

So keep adding ammonia every 24 hours until the nitrates start coming up? And then immediately add fish after the nitrates have come up and then do a water change? How big of a water change do I do after the nitrates raise?

[lohachata]

it seems you have this all screwed up....
first of all you are in too big of a hurry....a normal cycle takes 8-12 weeks...not 3...
if you used fish and after 3 weeks the nitrites were high , then i would say the tank is in the middle of the cycle...all you had to do was just keep doing what you were doing..
but then again ; you took care of that....

[C. King]

mine took 8 weeks. and I did not use any ammonia or products, just set it up with the plants, seeded my filter with some used filter medium from a friend, and threw in a pinch of fish food every once in a while. Not saying that my way is better or using ammonia is better; this is just what works for me, and I have had tanks since 1980. I did monitor the water parameters for ammonia, ph, nitrites and nitrates, but mostly because I am a science geek and love to play with test tubes, not because I would add anything or do anything different to the tank. It really does just take time before the tests start to come out right consistantly.

[weedkiller]

As has been said patience is the key...
1. Add ammonia to get to 2ppm test water every 24 hours till ammonia drops
2. Same again every day till you see nitrites
3. Repeat till nitrites drop to 0.. your nitrates should be high
4. Do 90% water change to reduce nitrates also make sure source nitrates are at least 20ppm and De chlorinate water before it enters tank
5. Add ammonia to 1ppm and test after 24 hours make sure ammonia and nitrites are 0
If they are 0 congratulations you are cycled.
It takes time so go with it and be patient

[l300lover]

Do I do water changes while cycling the tank or just 90% after the tank is cycled?

[weedkiller]

when it is cycled, until then the only thing you do is add ammonia when it is needed and test water

[l300lover]

thanks weedkiller!