Is it important to dose up to 5ppm ammonia at end of cycle?

[cathrynlisa]

Hi,

My nitrites and ammonia are disappearing daily at 3ppm, but when I dosed up to 5ppm, as per the fishless cycling instructions I got from this forum, ammonia still remained even though the nitrites disappeared. Can you advise what I should do now please?

Thanks

[Cityfish]

Remain patient, the increased ammonia has caused a mini cycle which will in turn cause more denitrifying bacteria to develop and increase the bio capacity of the filtering system.

[cathrynlisa]

So, do I need to keep adding up to 5ppm now until it all goes away again?

[cathrynlisa]

Can someone please advise me whether to dose to 3ppm or 5ppm?

[amyandlars]

Go to the 5, this is where your tank learns how to handle a massive bioload. I have a tank that would be zero's at 3 and not 5. I had nitrites at the end of the 24 hours. On day 3 of adding fish I had massive amounts of nitrites, and ended up doing several w/c's that day. If you put in fish, I'm guessing you'll end up with ammonia.
The good news is you're probably about 3 days away from being totally cycled.

[cathrynlisa]

The good news is you're probably about 3 days away from being totally cycled.

Oh I hope so, I'm starting to feel like I'm never going to get any fish! Thanks for the advice