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Fishless Cycling

I just started the fishless cycling in my flood and drain system with diluted ammonia (ammonium hydroxide). The bottle I bought at the hardware store doesn't say what the dilution is, and I'm not sure how much to add to get the water up to 2-4 ppm.

I have a 20 gallon fish tank and grow bed that holds (accounting for the displacement by the grow media) about 15 gallons of water before draining.

Any suggestions on how much ammonia to add each day to start the cycling?

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Permalink Reply by John Cubit on October 12, 2012 at 1:54pm

So after a few days, the Ammonia has dropped to 0, pH went from 8 to 7.8, and nitrites hit 5 and Nitrates suddenly hit at 80. If the science is right from what I read the nitrites should drop shortly as well.

Permalink Reply by TCLynx on October 12, 2012 at 3:42pm

yep and keep an eye on the pH since that often drops around the same time the nitrites do depending on your carbonate hardness and alkalinity. Once you are well cycled and your system settles in for your fish load, you might not need to be testing the ammonia, nitrite and nitrate daily but you should still test the pH every couple days.