How much PEE is too much?

[Jeff]

Great news! I finally have my system up and running! (That simply means I turned the pump on and the cycling works). Still no fish or plants because I will wait until the system is completely cycled.

I am going to do fishless cycling and use the "pee method." However, how would you recommend going about doing this from your own experiences. My plan (without really researching anything) is to pee in the water on one day, perhaps wait a day, then take another pee, wait a day, and then test the water for the ammonia and nitrites. If no ammonia shows, or if it's smaller than 4ppt, keep taking one pee per day until it's there.

Is that too much pee? I understand that it may depend on other factors, such as size of the man, size of the system, size of the pee (?), hehehe.

Know this: I will be peeing in a 110 gallon tank, just to give you a sense of scale as to how much water is in there.

[keith_r]

i did that.. here's what i learned..
if possible used "aged" pee - store in a container with a lid for at least a week..
peeing directly into the tank, it will take at least a few days before you see an amonia reading.. in my 110 gallon tank, with "fresh" stuff, it took at least 4 days for an ammonia reading.. i accidently drained my ft, and topped up with fresh water, using aged pee, i saw an ammonia reading right away.. you don't want the amonia to get to high, because that will inhibit the cycling process
or use "feeder" fish, like minnows or goldfish, and feed lightly..

[Jeff]

Well I am actually not in any kind of hurry. In fact, I don't expect to plant anything or put fish in until May. So peeing fresh from the source, if you will, doesn't bother me too much. I'm mainly curious if one pee per day for x-amount of days is too much or not, where X can be 3, 4, etc.

[commander]

I would think that as long as you dont have fish or plants in the system, the amount is to terribly important.

[keith_r]

you don't want to add too much,, as this will inhibit the cycling process,, if you can get the ammonia up to 3 or 4 that should be plenty.. just add more when it drops

[urbanfarmer]

Just pee in it! You will feel better when you do!

[Jeff]

Just pee in it! You will feel better when you do!

You're right. That DID feel good! :P

[foodchain]

Probably should do it over a period of time, so that the amonia you are adding simulates that of the fish. After all the fish would just be peeing in it.
IF you don't, sooner or later the bacteria will run out of "food" and then no more bacteria I would think. Everything is energy in and energy out right?

[Jeff]

Well I was peeing in it a couple times a day for a few days in a row. I then let it rest a couple of days, and now my ammonia level is off the charts! Here's a graphic I posted in one of my other threads showing the reading:

[attachment=0:2hbwap6t]photo.JPG[/attachment:2hbwap6t]

As you can see, the ammonia is high but still no nitrite reading, so I assume I just need to wait it out. Hopefully I will see the nitrites go UP as the ammonia goes down.

[Bioritize]

Sup bro,

That looks like plenty of PEE. It took two months for my system to cycle, roughly 700 gallons. This was during the winter and I also do not think we had enough DO(Dissolved Oxygen) to get the little guys busy. Now all you can do is sit back and relax. I would test every week or so until you see nitrites. Then another waiting game.


Good luck and may the bacteria be with you.