Ammonia Levels During Fishy Cycle

Kasakato said:
Dont do water changes untill there is no ammoina, or nitrites. You need some, not a lot to keep the bacteria living. Id say 50% everyday wont hurt anything, and do more good than bad. Keep them below .75ppm and you are set to go ;)
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Not sure if this is a typo or not. Bacteria do NOT look around to check out the food supply and grow in response. They grow no matter what, reproducing constantly. The bacteria colonies are not static, even in an established tank. Some die round the clock, and are replaced by new ones. Detectable ammonia means there is more ammonia produced than bacteria can consume at their current colony size and the colony will continue expanding until conditions are no longer suitable--true if you have 3 ppm ammonia, or less than .25 ppm. Since .25 ppm is less strssful and damaging to fish, it will be better for the occupant and not harmful to the bacteria in anyway.
 
A better option, in my opinion, would be to buy a bottle of Prime and follow the instructions on the bottle. Prime will convert your ammonia to ammonium, which is not harmful to fish but is digestable by your bacterial colony. While Orion Girl is right, doing this will undoubtedly increase your cycle time while protecting your fish. Additionally, Prime functions much in the same way with Nitrites. (Ammo lock will handle ammonia in this way as well, though if my recollection serves me, it will not affect nitrites. In my opinion and experience, ammolock is an inferior product).

In my opinion, the amount of time it takes to cylce with fish is the major drawback second only to fish health. While Orion Girl is right about bacterial colony populations, it is safe to say that if you provide more nourishment for your nitrify bacteria, the population will increase at a faster rate.
 
No, it's not. Bacteria grow as long as there is food available--doesn't matter if it's twice what they need, or 10 times. Would you grow faster with 2 full beef sides hanging in a cooler than with one? Of course not--growth continues as long as food is available, even if it's not in excess. The hobbyist test kits can not detect low levels of ammonia--what we read as 0 does not indicate an absence. If there is a source of ammonia, the bacteria will continue reproducing. Look at it this way--do you think that your established aquarium contains no ammonia, since the test kit reads 0? Then what are those bacteria eating? The ammonia is present, just in levels below what our kits can read. If you have a full chemical analysis done, they will show levels of ammonia, most likely in ppb instead of ppm.
 
Orion Girl,
Why then does it take appoximately 10 days to two weeks to cycle a ten gallon tank dosing ammonia at 5 ppm while it takes significantly longer to cycle with fish while trying to keep ammonia at bay?
 
benedictj said:
Orion Girl,
Why then does it take appoximately 10 days to two weeks to cycle a ten gallon tank dosing ammonia at 5 ppm while it takes significantly longer to cycle with fish while trying to keep ammonia at bay?
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That's kind of a loaded question. I've seen fishless cycles take much longer and fishy cycles take less... it all depends on seeding, conditions, temperature, etc. It's not a matter of just how much ammonia is present. Ah if only it were that easy.
 
It may be difficult to get the water to 0 ammonia everyday. Most of us already suggested 50% daily water changes and if the ammonia or nitrites are really bad, then go with back to back 50% water changes.
 
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