Amonia Problem

Thanks, I'll look into walmart or some place like that and see if I can rig something up cheap.

If I can do this, I have a whole new situation. I have gravel in my tank with nothing to support plant life. Although I have just set my tank up so I'm not far into cycling...I rather not spend the time to take everything down. Is there I way I can insert a living plant without having to redo my setup with a different substrate?
 
blankenship said:
Thanks, I'll look into walmart or some place like that and see if I can rig something up cheap.

If I can do this, I have a whole new situation. I have gravel in my tank with nothing to support plant life. Although I have just set my tank up so I'm not far into cycling...I rather not spend the time to take everything down. Is there I way I can insert a living plant without having to redo my setup with a different substrate?
Click to expand...

I'm a newbie and all but I read with Java Fern and moss you don't need a special substrate. You actually tie it up to some drift wood or some decor and it attaches it self to it and grows that way. but check with one of the experts on here first. :)
 
As far as the amount of drops of ammonia you are adding to your tank, I have always (at least in the 5 brand new tanks I have setup) put in 4 drops of ammonia per gallon of water in the tank (excluding decorations, gravel, etc.). Numerous websites dedicated to fishless cycling using the ammonia drop method state that between 3 and 5 drops per gallon of water should be used. What you are aiming for is 5 ppm on the ammonia test (at least until nitrites begin to show up on the test -- at which point enough ammonia should be added to test around 2 ppm).

In fact, I just set up a tank for my girlfriend's family last week. Its a 50 gallon tank. I estimated I put in about 45 gallons of water. Thus, 45 gallons times 4 drops per gallon equals 180 drops initially. Each day I test for ammonia and add the corresponding numbers of drops of ammonia needed to achieve 5 ppm on my ammonia test.

It takes a rather long time, but the fish I have in my tanks cycled this way live much longer and healthier lives without going through an ammonia spike.
 
Aahhhh, I see....its 5 drop per gallon. I was here thinking 5 drops for the whole tank. Great, thanks!! This should fix my problem.
 
Not all commercially-purchased ammonia will be at the same concentration. Five drops per gallon may do it for you, or it may not... best to test to see what the titer is in your tank.

Jim
 
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