Hi all! I’m new here, do is my 120l tropical tank. I’m doing fishless cycle. Started tank this Friday, add ammonia (fish flakes) on Sunday. Ammonia reads at 2.00-3.00. Nitrite 0.50ppm. I’m keep adding new source of ammonia every day. I’m I going in right direction? Should I test ph at this stage? Thanks.
Hi, rabbit211. Welcome to the forum
I am gladly you are doing a fishless cycling before getting the fish. It is the right way to get your fish tank ready.
Yes, I see no problem so far. Keep it up. Your ammonia concentration at 2~3ppm is just fine. Keep it anywhere from 2~5ppm is good enough.
There is no point of testing for PH at this stage. Wait until you get a lot of nitrate before test for PH. Nitrate production is acidic, and thus it might crash PH. So wait for nitrate first.
By the way, what filter system are you using? And what fish do you plan to get?
How is the fishless cycling doing? It has been almost a month. If everything is normal, it should be done or near done by now.
Water PH needs to be tested only after nitrate start to increase. When the water is too acidic, it will slow the growth of the beneficial bacteria required for the aquarium nitrogen cycle. The testing of water PH will let you know when a partial water change is needed. If you see the PH crashes suddenly to 6 or lower, you might want to do a large partial water change of 50~90% to restore the water PH and buffer.
Please let us know how you are doing. Look forward to see another properly set up home aquarium with beautiful fish.
