Using Ammonium Chloride to test if my cycle is over.
- Thread starter Smeagle
- Start date
iwantmoretacos
New member
I've used ammonium hydroxide the successfully does ammonia into the tank. As long as there's nothing harmful in the solution you're using you should be ok. Just be careful as some product contain more than just the ammonia.
I probably would just add a bit of fish food, maybe ⅓ the amount I was going to feed to the first fish. If you want to dose ammonium chloride, 0.5 ppm should be more than enough. If the dose is enough to show up reliably on the test kit right after dosing, that's all that's needed.
With ammonium chloride, you can see immediately the ammonia level and know overnight if it is clearing properly. Adding food is a slower process as it must decay to produce results.
For me, I vary the level between 2ppm and 6ppm depending on what my tank stocking level is going to be right off the bat.
If I'm to stock up all at once, I want the 6ppm to clear overnight.
For me, I vary the level between 2ppm and 6ppm depending on what my tank stocking level is going to be right off the bat.
If I'm to stock up all at once, I want the 6ppm to clear overnight.
6 ppm of ammonia is vast overkill, in my opinion. Ammonia-consuming bacteria can grow quite rapidly given enough food, and will die back quickly once it's gone. 6 ppm is high enough that it might inhibit the growth in the first place, or be more than a tank's live rock can process in a reasonable time period.
Adding some food is more delayed, but it's also more realistic as far as what the tank will see when it's stocked. It should be fine.
Adding some food is more delayed, but it's also more realistic as far as what the tank will see when it's stocked. It should be fine.
I guess it all depends on just how one see's their own situations.
I've been doing this for a couple of decades now, but it became really important back around 2002 when I started with seahorses. I learned eventually that because of the eating habits of seahorses, I needed an extremely high capability to handle ammonia from right at the start as I was keeping 4 seahorses in each tank that should only have had two. 6ppm worked for me doing those tanks.
Previously I needed a high proofing for my 90g butterfly tank when I added 8 butterflys right off the bat.
Most of my reef tanks I would use 2 to 3ppm as they never had high fish loads.
That all being said, the last two seahorse tanks I set up, I never cycled them ahead of time, but instead, used ClorAm-X to keep the ammonia at bay until the tank cycled to be able to go without the CX.
I've been doing this for a couple of decades now, but it became really important back around 2002 when I started with seahorses. I learned eventually that because of the eating habits of seahorses, I needed an extremely high capability to handle ammonia from right at the start as I was keeping 4 seahorses in each tank that should only have had two. 6ppm worked for me doing those tanks.
Previously I needed a high proofing for my 90g butterfly tank when I added 8 butterflys right off the bat.
Most of my reef tanks I would use 2 to 3ppm as they never had high fish loads.
That all being said, the last two seahorse tanks I set up, I never cycled them ahead of time, but instead, used ClorAm-X to keep the ammonia at bay until the tank cycled to be able to go without the CX.
