- Joined
- May 14, 2008
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I am in the process of cycling my new 200 gallon system. Today is day 7 of the cycle. On day zero I dosed Nitrocycle to get my ammonia to 3 ppm and dosed the recommended amount of Fritz Turbostart 900.
As of last night (day 6) the ammonia level has dropped to zero (Red Sea kit). The nitrite level has been at 1 ppm for 3 days (Salifert kit). I also tested nitrate yesterday (Hanna) and it was over 75 ppm. I suspect this was a false reading due to the presence of nitrite.
I won't be able to add any fish to the system until 8/9 (11 days from now). My question is should I be dosing more Nitrocycle to raise the ammonia level to keep feeding the bacteria? If yes, when do I dose and how much? Enough to get the ammonia to 1 ppm? Should I only dose more Nitrocycle once the nitrite is 0 or should I do it now since ammonia is at 0?
As of last night (day 6) the ammonia level has dropped to zero (Red Sea kit). The nitrite level has been at 1 ppm for 3 days (Salifert kit). I also tested nitrate yesterday (Hanna) and it was over 75 ppm. I suspect this was a false reading due to the presence of nitrite.
I won't be able to add any fish to the system until 8/9 (11 days from now). My question is should I be dosing more Nitrocycle to raise the ammonia level to keep feeding the bacteria? If yes, when do I dose and how much? Enough to get the ammonia to 1 ppm? Should I only dose more Nitrocycle once the nitrite is 0 or should I do it now since ammonia is at 0?