Ideal for first fish. Ammonia readings of 0.2ish are ok. As the system matures a bit it will come down further.
Yet another cycling question
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Rmckoy
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Have you tested nitrates ?
In theory . At the end of the cycle after nitrites drop to zero , there should be elevated or high levels of nitrate which is the final step of the cycle .
A large water change to export Nitrates prior to stocking livestock . But agree with above .
upute ready to start stocking “ SLOWLY”
too fast or too many could result in high ammonia starting the cycle again
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spamvicious
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I’ll test nitrates this evening. This is the current test results of ammonia https://ibb.co/LnXtTWd
MnFish1
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The problem with many of these tests - and especially the one you are using - is that different eyes see different things. When I squint my eyes - the color in the vial is much closer to the 0 than it is to the 0.2. I would consider this result as 'zero'. Whether you need a water change or not - will depend on your nitrate levels.
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spamvicious
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This is what the nitrate is showing as https://ibb.co/FH0wpzg
Rmckoy
7500 Club Member
My eyes are saying 20ppm
which with a larger 50% water change will lower them to 10ppm which is acceptable
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spamvicious
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I couldn’t work out if it was 10ppm or 20ppm. I’ll get back to the fish shop and get some more salt water. Thanks for the help.
Rmckoy
7500 Club Member
For the future I’d recommend a rodi unit .
it might be more affordable and also knowing salinity is always the same and mixed with zero tds .
Puts a little more piece of mind in your reef .
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spamvicious
Active Member
Yes I was thinking about that but I’m in a rented flat so was unsure if it was allowed and what kind of unit I’d need.
Rmckoy
7500 Club Member
I also live in a apartment .
I have fitting that attaches to my kitchen faucet ,
Best advise I can provide when using ammonium chloride is to start with a quarter recommended then wait a while and test. Add additional quarter recommended dosage until reading is above 2 ppm but not above 5 ppm. If it exceeds 5 ppm then dilute it with an appropriate WC.
I use API ammonia strips but have in the past used Seachem ammonia alert, although the latter can take four hours to stabilize and show an accurate reading. It's Seachem is also based on free ammonia vs total although I don't bother making that distinction. Just make sure it stays near 2 ppm. Mostly concerned with presence or absence. I rarely get technical with this stuff.
Cycle should take less than ten days in my experience to where both ammonia and nitrites are at zero. Then time to decide how to handle the excess nitrates. Most perform a large WC. Recently, I went to using carbon dosing and that's worked out for me. Not a fan of lugging 5 gallon buckets.
I use API ammonia strips but have in the past used Seachem ammonia alert, although the latter can take four hours to stabilize and show an accurate reading. It's Seachem is also based on free ammonia vs total although I don't bother making that distinction. Just make sure it stays near 2 ppm. Mostly concerned with presence or absence. I rarely get technical with this stuff.
Cycle should take less than ten days in my experience to where both ammonia and nitrites are at zero. Then time to decide how to handle the excess nitrates. Most perform a large WC. Recently, I went to using carbon dosing and that's worked out for me. Not a fan of lugging 5 gallon buckets.
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