Very STupid question about fishless cycling

[rdracer66]

when they say 5ppm what does that mean like 1oz or more or less or ???
how much ammo do i start with on a 125g

 

[colesea]

PPM is the scientific notation for Parts Per Million. In the simplest example, think if it this way:

For every 1 million molecules of a solution you have, 5 of those molecules are your solute (say salt NCl) and the remaining 999,995 molecules are your solvent (say water H20) thus the 5ppm.  It can also mean 5% of a 1 million Liters solition. That would mean 50,000 Liters of solute is needed per every 950,000 Liters of solvent to create 1 million liters of solution, or a 5ppm mix.

So if you go to a car dealer, and they say they sell 5ppm of blue cars, that means for every 1 million cars they sell, 5 of those 1million cars are blue.

There is also PPT, or Parts Per Thousand, and PPH, Parts Per Hundred, although PPH is most commonly expressed as a percentage (ie 10% not 10pph).  PPT is commonly use to express salinities.

As far as how much ammonia to use when doing a fishless cycle, I dunno.  You would have to use your test kit to take the readings, and keep adding ammonia until you test kit tells you you've got a 5ppm solution inside your tank.
~~Colesea

 

[ronrca]

Thats a very good question. I know in the little booklets that come with the test kits, I think that that is a equivalent g/ml for the ppm. Id have to check though.

Ammonia for the 125G. In my 90G I used one of the tubes that came with the test kits and gave it one squirt. Dont worry too much about adding too much ammonia. That worst that can happen is that the cycle take much longer. You can always do a water change if you feel you have added too much. I would think that adding a little more is better than not enough. The reason is that if you add too little and you happen to add all your fish, it might start cycling again because the bacteria culture is not big enough. Id rather be safe and have a large bio culture.

 

[rdracer66]

Thanks Guys !
I dont feel so stupid after all, I'll be putting in 6 jacobfribergi btw 3-6in
soon tho i want to put maybe 2 more species in there with them that are compatible, problem is im running out of time
my goal was to be completly cycled by end of june
because there is a huge fish show going on in Denver Colorado where i'm from. I figured i couild get some really nice fish there, think i can do it in 2 weeks if i can seed it with gravel and pre filters from my existing 55g that the fish are in now ?
Also u say that u used  your test squirter '?
i have one in my kit too it can hold 12ml think i should put in 12ml every day till i get up to 5 on my ammo chart ?
then go half every day ?
also how much u think for a 10g
I'm setting up a 10g tank for fry

thanks again guys

Kurt

 

[ronrca]

If your seeding your 125G you should be able to make 2 weeks, Im thinking. My 20g took 4 days.

Your on the right track with the ammonia. 'Full' doses everyday until you max the ammonia level, then you can cut back to half doses but dont really have to. Or you can even add max ammonia in the first day then wait until ammonia starts decreasing, then add doses everyday. The point is not letting the bacteria starve.

You can do the same with the 10. Of course, it will not take as much ammonia as the 125g but max the ammonia level in the 10 as well. If your tanks can handle a maxed ammonia level, you should be fine.

 

[rdracer66]

yea but how much is max lol ?
12ml ?