# Oops, I Stuffed Up My Fishless Cycle! What Now?



## WhiteRaven (Nov 7, 2009)

I bought some ammonia in powder form online to cycle my fish tank (since finding clear ammonia in Australia is near impossible... this was the only stuff I could find). 
Well I followed the instructions online on how to do a fishless cycle and my ammonia readings kept coming up as 0 the next 2 days. I realised that the concentration of the ammonia I'm using must be quite different (or something).

So yesterday I poured a bit in (instead of just drops) and then tested it. It was now somewhere between 4.0 and 8.0ppm, closer to 8.0 (um, oops?). However I did test this right after pouring it in and swirling the water around, could this have given me an inaccurate reading?

I tested it again today (24 hours later) and it now says 0.25ppm! That doesn't seem right. :\

So what do I do now?
Thanks for your help! 
As for the concentration of the ammonia, I'm suppose to mix it 250ml water with half teaspoon ammonia powder.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

Do you have a nitrate reading? Sometimes your tap water will have that in it. I would check for that. And give it a few days it takes a bit for things to be going where they are supposed to be going in a cycle.


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

WhiteRaven said:


> *1)* I bought some ammonia in powder form online to cycle my fish tank (since finding clear ammonia in Australia is near impossible... this was the only stuff I could find).
> 
> *2)* I tested it again today (24 hours later) and it now says 0.25ppm! That doesn't seem right. :\
> 
> *3)* So what do I do now?


WR

*1)* No telling what was in the powder and is now in your water and filters.

*2)* You are correct in that something is wrong.

*3)* Evacuate the water from the tank, 
rinse the filters, 
replace the water, 
add a few flakes for 14 days,
add a few fish,
after another 14 days add a few more fish, etc.

BTW: Did you dechlorinate the water?

TR


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## WhiteRaven (Nov 7, 2009)

Thanks to the answers. I've read about fishless cycling (it doesn't seem to be a common practice here in Australia) so I want to try that and if it doesn't work then I will cycle with fish.

The powder is AmmonChlor which is specially made for fishless cycling. Yes, I dechlorinated the water.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

well, the whole point of a fishless cycle is that you're establishing a bacteria colony without the the fish producing the ammon for the cycle to start. It is natural to see your ammonia go from a high number to a low number that means something is eating it or it's evaporating. Presence of No2 would mean something is definetly eating the ammon and converting it to No2. Presence of No3 would mean you have something eating No2 and coverting it to No3. As for what is going on in your tank it's a toss up. maybe you've gotten lucky and established a healthy bac colony already. just depends on what the No2 and No3 readings are. If you're reading .25ammon, 0 no2, 0 no3 then the ammonia is dissapating into the air or something. if you're reading .25-1.0 ammon, 0 no2, .5 no3. then you've got the starts of a good colony. Basically the second No3 starts popping up it means you've got a complete colony. once every thing drops to 0 except no3 that means you've finished your cycle.


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## WhiteRaven (Nov 7, 2009)

Hi thanks for the answer. Not sure what is happening but I think I've figured out what to do now (after some reading). There has been no sign of nitrite or nitrate so far. 

So what I'm now doing is measuring out enough ammonia to equal 5ppm. Put that in the tank daily (since the ammonia does seem to keep going down) until I see an ammonia spike (hasn't happened yet). Once I see the spike then daily put half the dose of ammonia I'm putting in until ammonia and nitrite read 0 and I have nitrate. Then do a large water change to get rid of the nitrate.

Anyone who's cycled with ammonia... does this sound a bit right? x__x


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

WhiteRaven said:


> Hi thanks for the answer. Not sure what is happening but I think I've figured out what to do now (after some reading). There has been no sign of nitrite or nitrate so far.
> 
> So what I'm now doing is measuring out enough ammonia to equal 5ppm. Put that in the tank daily (since the ammonia does seem to keep going down) until I see an ammonia spike (hasn't happened yet). Once I see the spike then daily put half the dose of ammonia I'm putting in until ammonia and nitrite read 0 and I have nitrate. Then do a large water change to get rid of the nitrate.
> 
> Anyone who's cycled with ammonia... does this sound a bit right? x__x



WR:

I have no experience with a fishless cycle but do have a decent grasp of the ammonia/nitrite/nitrate cycle and IMHO somehow your research has gotten off here.

0.3ppm ammonia is lethal to many fish.

At 0.6ppm you should be generating ammonia and nitrite digestion bacteria on your biological media.

Who knows what is happening at 5ppm (ie. 5ppm is a h..l of an ammonia spike).

TR


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