Lucy

Ah.....lol, that makes more sense.

This is what I would try. You're nitrItes have been stuck a while right?
Do a water change to get rid of the nitrites.
Add ammonia up to say, 4. Test in 12-24hrs.
If it's cycled the bacteria should process the ammonia in that amount of time.

shih-tzu mom

ok, Lucy will try in the morning lol- i must have messed up that #-2-bottle this morning so i'll do the water change in the morning lol bella

shih-tzu mom

PPS thanks Lucy bella

Lucy

Your welcome Bella.
By the time you're done you'll be an expert on weird cycling issues. lol

shih-tzu mom

Good Morning, Lucy- i decided to do a water test this morning and it looks like i am cycled lol tank-2-ammonia-0-nitrate-5.0-nitrite-0-yeah. bella

shih-tzu mom

Now a question? i have 2-panthose in there for cycling and can i remove them ??As i am going to put in the 2-recues from my first set of fish lol and i have a big plant in there and 2-look alike decorations and gravel , bubbler,and of course filter with extra media lol and these 2-like to uproot anything they can lol bella

Lucy

Oh, the readings look good today Bella! Yippee!

How long has the panty hose been in there? Usually 2 weeks is enough, but since your babies are goldies, I'd leave it in there for at least 2 weeks after you add the fish.

shih-tzu mom

ok, Lucy-so i am cycled then?? and no water change yet lol. But that took 1-month and 3-days lol as i started on the dec;21st lol still not to bad concidering there was no heater lol- i guess the drill is to change the water to 60-75% and add fish lol Cujo and Kody will be very happy. Lucy these 2-are at least 3-inches now and i am going to add both at once as they are really to big for a 20-gallon lol Your thought's as i really respect your opinion's Lucy bella

Lucy

Hmmm.....It might be a good idea to add one at a time. Wait a week or and add the other.

shih-tzu mom

Sorry, Lucy; the panyhose have been in there from the start lol and very much rotted by now, as i had live plants in there. lol And i just thought of something lol Doe's not the plants do something to the nitrates and nirites??As i read somewhere it is good to keep the n/n down lol. So maybe that was the problem with the nitrite Lucy.bella

shih-tzu mom

Ok, Lucy will do but one of them won't like it. They have become rather close now lol, after all the fighting.bella

Lucy

They won't be seperated for long. Just give them some extra attention. I would hate to see you overwhelm the bacteria after all you've been through with this cycle.

I don't know that much about planted tanks, but plants will help absorb nitrates. I'm not sure about their eff4ct on nitrites.

If the panyhose is really rotted, maybe you should take it out. Just keep a close eye on your parameters.

shih-tzu mom

Ok, Lucy-Yipeeee, finally-now i can start my other 2-20gallons as i didn't start as yet the old back has been bad as i am off work lol. I thought i should remove them as one has been through 2-tanks lol so they can't have much left in them to benifit anything lol.Yes, Lucy the more i have read on plants it seems like a very good idea for anyone having nitrate-nitrite problems lol aside from cycling as i really do figure maybe that or the high ammonia had an effect on the cycle. But the high ammonia, people have had fast results as i did but who knows.And i don't have the time to do all that reasearch lol bella

Lucy

LOL, When you start to cycle the 2 20's and have questions, you should probably start a new thread. This one needs to be laid to rest.

shih-tzu mom

I too think so Lucy- is about time lol And many thanks to you,Shawnie, Dozey and others who have helped along the way, while i learned the 'dreaded cycle' bella