Day 21... Cycling is a Waiting Game

Cycling is a waiting game.  The question that I had was, to pee or not to pee.

Many of the aquaponics sites talk about using urine, but with a warning.  No medications, no caffeine.  I take high blood pressure and diabetes meds... and I like my caffeine.  Ace Hardware sells raw ammonia in the detergents section for $2.15 for a gallon.  This is a no brainer.

I got my water testing supplies from PetCo.  One container of 25 ammonia testing strips and 25 6-way nitrate, nitrite, chlorine, ph, alkalinity and hardness.  Together they were 34 dollars.


21 days and still waiting to cycle.

• ammonia is about 3
• nitrates are 0
• nitrites are finally .5
• chlorine has always been 0
• Baton Rouge water is NOT hard
• alkalinity is 120 to 180 (ideal)
• ph is 7.8 to 8.4