Amandalorian
- #1
Hello Fishlore!
I've been cycling 2 tanks (15g and 55 g) for almost 2 months now. Both fishless, my 15 is for my current betta and 55 is for future axolotls. This is my first time actually going through the process, the first time i "cycled" I used a seeded filter form angels plus on my 6g. I'm trying not to go that route because I feel like it leaves the tank a mess.
15g:
*has a sponge filter, heater, driftwood, gravel, floating plants
I've been dosing Dr. Tims to 2 ppm and have gotten it cycled about 2-3 weeks ago. My ammonia was 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 80 for 2 days straight while I did 50% water changes to reduce the nitrate. Thinking the end was here I bought shrimp and snails to QT in my 6 gallon since there's plenty of algae and moved my betta into a temporary set up in a 5 g bucket. On the 3rd day my tank was showing 0.25 ammonia and it just got worse from there. I assumed maybe 50% was too much or I should've been more careful about temp matching or I poured new water too close to the sponge filter. A few days ago I was reading 0,0,80 again and began 25% water changes with more caution. On day 4 my readings are not 0.25, 0.25, 40. I'm getting incredibly frustrate and sad for my betta who has been in the bucket this whole time. I was told not to do water changes unless nitrates were "off the charts >160ppm" and to keep dosing 2ppm ammonia to feed the bacteria during water changes so I did. I'm not sure if any of the information is wrong, there's so much mixed info out there. What am I doing wrong that my cycled tank becomes uncycled a few days later?
55g:
I was initially told to dose 4ppm ammonia for larger tanks and the possibility for 2 axolotls who produce a lot of waste. I cut back to 2 ppm after hearing only over stocked tanks will need to keep up with 4 ppm. I've been a bit lax about testing this one while prioritizing the 15 g, I didn't notice my nitrites were extremely high- likely from over dosing the ammonia initially. Apparently on nitrite testing- if you drop 5 drops of API testing solution in and it turns dark purple immediately it means your nitrites are 'off the charts' and the test can't process that scale of nitrites. When this happens nitrite test tubes turn from dark purple to light blue which may confuse people into thinking readings are 0ppm. I've been doing WCS 25-40 % to remove nitrites and dosing to 0.25 ammonia to feed the bacteria but at this point I feel like I need to scrap it and start over. My API test for this tank is also showing nitrate testing bottle #1 to turn brown, this is another false test which is likely due to the high nitrites I guess. Does anyone have experience with this?
Thank you, and please help!
I've been cycling 2 tanks (15g and 55 g) for almost 2 months now. Both fishless, my 15 is for my current betta and 55 is for future axolotls. This is my first time actually going through the process, the first time i "cycled" I used a seeded filter form angels plus on my 6g. I'm trying not to go that route because I feel like it leaves the tank a mess.
15g:
*has a sponge filter, heater, driftwood, gravel, floating plants
I've been dosing Dr. Tims to 2 ppm and have gotten it cycled about 2-3 weeks ago. My ammonia was 0, nitrite 0, nitrate 80 for 2 days straight while I did 50% water changes to reduce the nitrate. Thinking the end was here I bought shrimp and snails to QT in my 6 gallon since there's plenty of algae and moved my betta into a temporary set up in a 5 g bucket. On the 3rd day my tank was showing 0.25 ammonia and it just got worse from there. I assumed maybe 50% was too much or I should've been more careful about temp matching or I poured new water too close to the sponge filter. A few days ago I was reading 0,0,80 again and began 25% water changes with more caution. On day 4 my readings are not 0.25, 0.25, 40. I'm getting incredibly frustrate and sad for my betta who has been in the bucket this whole time. I was told not to do water changes unless nitrates were "off the charts >160ppm" and to keep dosing 2ppm ammonia to feed the bacteria during water changes so I did. I'm not sure if any of the information is wrong, there's so much mixed info out there. What am I doing wrong that my cycled tank becomes uncycled a few days later?
55g:
I was initially told to dose 4ppm ammonia for larger tanks and the possibility for 2 axolotls who produce a lot of waste. I cut back to 2 ppm after hearing only over stocked tanks will need to keep up with 4 ppm. I've been a bit lax about testing this one while prioritizing the 15 g, I didn't notice my nitrites were extremely high- likely from over dosing the ammonia initially. Apparently on nitrite testing- if you drop 5 drops of API testing solution in and it turns dark purple immediately it means your nitrites are 'off the charts' and the test can't process that scale of nitrites. When this happens nitrite test tubes turn from dark purple to light blue which may confuse people into thinking readings are 0ppm. I've been doing WCS 25-40 % to remove nitrites and dosing to 0.25 ammonia to feed the bacteria but at this point I feel like I need to scrap it and start over. My API test for this tank is also showing nitrate testing bottle #1 to turn brown, this is another false test which is likely due to the high nitrites I guess. Does anyone have experience with this?
Thank you, and please help!
