InputGulliver
Member
Hello! I'm still super new, making plenty of mistakes. This is day 38 (12/8) of trying to cycle my 20 gal (AFTER I had to start over completely after taking bad advice.) And, I just got my water tested and out of nowhere I have both nitrites and nitrates. I'm a little confused, I was under the impression this was supposed to happen differently.
So, the stats first. I have:
A 20 gallon freshwater tank,
A Quiet Flo filter rated for 30 gallons
Some activated carbon
"aquavitro" seed bacteria that I have used every day for the past 2 ish weeks, plus one dose after water changes,
And lastly I use "API" Stress Coat for dechlorinating my water.
As far as fish, for the last 38 days I have had 3 Platies, fed one flake each a day. Except for Thanksgiving they had brine shrimp.
Water changes have been all over the place. The first couple weeks were 50% water changes, and the last few have been 15-20%.
Now, I just did a small water change today (15-20% on 12/8), and noticed my water was maybe not cloudy, but not really clear either. So I got it checked, and the results were: Ammonia at .50 ppm, Nitrites at .50 ppm, and Nitrates between 5-10 ppm. Prior to this I had no nitrites at all.
Sorry for the long post, any information is welcome.
So, the stats first. I have:
A 20 gallon freshwater tank,
A Quiet Flo filter rated for 30 gallons
Some activated carbon
"aquavitro" seed bacteria that I have used every day for the past 2 ish weeks, plus one dose after water changes,
And lastly I use "API" Stress Coat for dechlorinating my water.
As far as fish, for the last 38 days I have had 3 Platies, fed one flake each a day. Except for Thanksgiving they had brine shrimp.
Water changes have been all over the place. The first couple weeks were 50% water changes, and the last few have been 15-20%.
Now, I just did a small water change today (15-20% on 12/8), and noticed my water was maybe not cloudy, but not really clear either. So I got it checked, and the results were: Ammonia at .50 ppm, Nitrites at .50 ppm, and Nitrates between 5-10 ppm. Prior to this I had no nitrites at all.
Sorry for the long post, any information is welcome.