I still have ammonia!

[bex90]

I thought that the Dr Tims fishless cycle required ammonium chloride ie. instant ammonia. Something like a decaying shrimp would probably do it but flakes may take a while to decompose and start producing enough ammonia.
I wonder if your cycle was either delayed or made less effective by this.

Yes I’ve gone on to think that because I added the one and only and then waited 5 days for fish, the bacteria may have disappeared!

 

[Dan_P]

I thought that the Dr Tims fishless cycle required ammonium chloride ie. instant ammonia. Something like a decaying shrimp would probably do it but flakes may take a while to decompose and start producing enough ammonia.
I wonder if your cycle was either delayed or made less effective by this.

Without the measurement of ammonia consumption, we have no data on what happened, though the reported ammonia level, if correct, indicates the cycle might not have gone according to plan.

 

[Freenow54]

Thankyou appreciate the advice. The fish are very happy and eating very well. In your opinion should I keep the skimmer on or off with fish in the tank? Could that be slowing the process down having it on

The article I followed said turn off skimmers, and take out things like carbon ect. Just need water flow. However I did the fishless method