Too much ammonia?

Darwinfemfish

Darwinfemfish

Large Fish
#1
Jul 26, 2004
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Northwest Indiana
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#1
Hi Guys-

I guess this is sort of a 2 part question...

I've recently started cycling my 10 G tank. I know you are supposed to start with small amounts of ammonia, so I used one capful. Too much! I did about a 50% water change, which seemed to get it to about 5... I found the cap to be about 1 tablespoon, so I've been adding 1/2 tablespoon every day. I've been testing before I add, and the levels seem way higher than they should be- closer to 8 than 5. Should I cut back on the amount I add every day?

I think part of my problem is my test kit. The color-coded card you are supposed to compare the solution to goes 0, .25, .5, 1, 2, 4, and then skips to 8 for the last reading. So I have to kind of guess what color 5ppm looks like. Is this common, or should I get a new test kit? It's the "Freshwater Master Test Kit" from Aquarium Pharmaceuticals.
 

angel51431

angel51431

Large Fish
#2
Apr 22, 2003
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NYC
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#2
Well, you only need to add enough ammonia each day to take it *up to* 5ppm. So if you test it the day after, and there are 4 ppm left, you only need to add 1 ppm, to make a total of 5 ppm.

Yeah, I only recently realized this, cause I've been trying to cycle my new 30 gal, and not getting anywhere with it.

Can't help you with the test kit though. My own test kit only goes up to 5 ppm, so I don't know if I add too much. I want to get a new one though - the kind where you keep adding drops of the chemical into the test tube until it changes colour. Then the amount of drops tells you the ammount of ammonia in the water. Those tests are the most accurate, moreso than the kind you need to compare to the colour chart.
 

P

Phooka

Large Fish
#3
Aug 22, 2004
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Baltimore
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#3
I'm going to hijack this thread and I appologize in advance, but I just couldn't see making a new thread about ammonia when this one was only one post from the top of the forum.

I found "Clear" ammonia at the grocery store. The ingredients aren't listed, but it does say it has no phosphorous in it. I wasn't totally sure about it, because it only said "clear," not pure or 100% or anything. So, I shook it and it bubbled, but not really foaming, just...bubbly? But when you shake a bottle of water, that would bubble too, and water is obviously pure. I'm just not sure about it, but it's all I can find. It's the Food Lion brand, if that helps any.
 

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