Can you put too much ammonia in during cycle?

[ps2cho]

Is there a downside to having too much ammonia during a new tank cycle?

 

I'm reading above 8ppm ammonia with the food I threw onto the sand bed to decompose.

 

Any issues or when I do a 100% change should it not matter anyway?

[Elizabeth94]

Might take a bit longer but if you don't have any living critters in there you should be fine. If it were me though, I would do a water change to get it too 5ppm, but I always cycle my tanks at 5ppm so its just personal preference I guess.

[ajmckay]

So it's been found in a few "experiments" that ammonia levels above 6-7ppm I believe can retard bacterial colonization. So optimally I would try to keep it about 1/2 that or slightly less even.

 

I'm having trouble finding some of the others but this might be it: http://www.nano-reef.com/topic/202427-part-1-water-changes-during-the-cycle/

 

It's mostly observation, but so is a lot of other stuff that's useful.

[seabass]

Yep, high ammonia levels will retard the reproduction of strains of nitrifying bacteria that exist in our tanks. I experienced this first hand; however, my test kit didn't read over 8ppm, so I'm not sure how high it actually was at the time.

 

There is an argument that there are different strains of bacteria which can thrive in higher ammonia levels. However, this is not the environment that we have in our aquariums, so trying to colonize this type of bacteria wouldn't be beneficial.

 

Here is a guide that might help: http://www.drtimsaquatics.com/resources/fishless-cycling

[dandelion]

I've also read the nitrification process can affect your pH which also retards nitrification. I don't have first hand experience on it, but if a lower dose works, why push it?

[ps2cho]

Got it. I'll remove the decaying fish and let the bacteria just work on the Pukani. If in a week the ammonia is still too high then I'll do a 50% water change.

[ajmckay]

If your pukani was anything like mine it should have plenty of crap on it to move things along for a while.

[Mariaface]

Try to aim for ammonia at 2-3ppm. When you can dose the tank so it's at that level and come back the next day to 0ppm, you're pretty much set. Keep up that dosing until you can come back to both ammonia and nitrite at 0ppm within 24 hours, and you're cycled. If you wait a bit longer, you can get an idea of how good your tank is at denitrification as nitrate falls, too (otherwise, water changes are your friend).

 

Dr Tims sells ammonium chloride that's great for cycling! And pure ammonia (no surfactants or other things; it shouldn't bubble when shaken) will also work.