smileyfish

Its been cycling for a couple weeks now. The ammonia has been steady at 8 for a while, its now a little under 8 but a little higher than 4. The Nitrites and Nitrates just started showing some sign of progress. They are both at about
.5. The water has an extreme reddish murkyness. I just want to know just about how long the cycling should take from here and when the redness should go away. I made the mistake of replacing the filter media in the peak of the ammonia which i have now been advised not to have done so i think that stunted the progress. I also used some ammonia neutrilizer and water conditioner which i also think has done the same. Is there some way i could speed it up, like with the tetra safe start stuff or is it too late?

Moe Jacob

Hello smileyfish,

Since you have fish in the tank, I would do partial water changes every day with the use of Prime to keep the ammonia away from the fish for about 24hrs. This will leave the ammonia available to build healthy bacteria.

Do not touch the fliter media ... that is where your good bacteria lives. I would not waste my money on products that speed up the cycling process ...

I can not comment on the reddish color, but I would guess that it is an algae growth which should be harmless and go away with filtration, time and water changes.

Hope this helps!