Test for Chlorine

well the individual parts of the cycle differ from tank to tank.

personally my ammonia went up and within a week my nitrite, but my nitrite spiked for a good 3-4 weeks until it finally dropped.
 
I think it took about another two weeks for my nitrite to nitrate bacteria to set in, but of course it varies. Even after that finishes I would recommend checking once or twice a day for a few more weeks to make sure everything is stabilized. I used to get tiny ammonia spikes (less than .25 ppm) for a few weeks after my tank cycled. I was adding about 1-2 fish per week at that point though.
 
ive done reading on cycling with ammonium chloride, and they state to use 1 - 1.5 ppm of ammonia.

the process would be the same with regular ammonia (ammonium hydroxide), but everything ive read on cycling, has said about 1.5 ppm is the ideal number.... at least it is for ammonim chloride, I think 4 - 5 ppm is whats needed for household ammonia.


here is a good article on cycling
http://www.csupomona.edu/~jskoga/Aquariums/Ammonia.html
 
That's for fishless cycling. Every website and cycling article casts fishy cycling as a crime that shouldn't be done ever and thus don't mention a thing about the specifics. I imagine they just hope that the propaganda will keep people from trying it. The only problem with that is that there's no good info on how to do it as safely as possible because everyone seems too busy trying to get people to stop. It's an inevitablity that needs to be throughly explained even if it's an unappealing option.
 
You are on the right track. Keep doing what you are doing. You want to keep the ammonia under.50 during a fishy cycle. Meanwhile keep dosing prime as it will detoxify the ammonia. The 2nd part of the cycle is right around the corner and patience is all you need. IME the start of the cycle is the longest part and once your ammonia goes down and nitrites start to show up it will go fast.

Most folks look down on fishy cycling because any amount of ammonia can damage a fish for life. It is a fairly known fact that gill damage and other problems can arise from any ammonia concentrations above .25ppm. There is always ammonia in a tank rather cycled or not but the concentrations are usually not detectable on most tests.
 
the cycle itself can take up to 8 weeks, but there sint a set time when ammoina will stop showing up and nitrite will just start. it takes longer for some tanks to get rid of ammonia, and others nitrite, while some tanks are stuck in a phase where they have ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. it will eventually cycle though
 
Impudence12 said:
It's coming on 2 weeks (13 days) of my fishy cycling. I know my water has chloramine in it. Since the start I've used the recommended dose of prime (more like a drop more cus I'm paranoid) I have a decent amount of plants and 2 rosy barbs happily swiming around. I've been told the first part of they cycle takes 1-3 weeks. In the morning I do about a 40% water change, then later in the day a 20% one, maybe twice. The ammonia is always a greenish shade somewhere around .25 and .50. The colors are so similar it's just looking green to me now. Most of the time I think its less than the .25 shade. I'm under the impression I'm doing everything I can to keep it right. I'm just getting more paranoid as the days go by. What is the chance that there is still chlorine killing whatever nitrifying bacteria is showing up? Should I get a chlorine test to check to make sure?
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i'm not sure from what you are saying if you are using the correct dose of prime?
 
your ammonia level should be around 1 - 1.5 ppm for your cycle to go anywhere.
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Not if you're cycling with fish. That can be a lethal level for a fishy cycle. That's why the fishless cycle is often quicker than cycling with fish, because you can get the ammonia up to 3-4 ppm and just let it rip. But, for fishy cycling, it is best to do whatever water changes are necessary to keep ammonia and nitrite under .25.
 
It calls for 2 drops per gallon, I have a 2.5 gallon bucket and I fill it up around the 2 gallon mark and put in 5 drops.
I'm relatively comfortable with the situation now that I've been reassured on the process as a whole. I just need to be patient, the hardest part by far.
 
You'll be fine! I use a Python to drain and fill all my FW tanks. When I fill each tank, I just dose the tank with Prime and fill with tap water. Even my discus don't have trouble with that.
 
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