cmor1701d
Aquarium Advice Addict
Coral, sorry about the clown. Are you sure the tank was done cycling?
I don't see any posts showing that the ammonia level spiked and went down, followed by the nitrite doing the same and then nitrate spiking. At that point you should have done a 30% water change, and waited a week to test all the water parameters.
Stevie, you are missing the point. The nitrogen cycle is the breakdown of organic material that creates ammonia. The ammonia is converted to nitrite and then to nitrate. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish in small doses. Fish can tolerate nitrates up to about 80 -100 ppm. Regardless of which type of filtration you use you are going to get the Waste > Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate part of the cycle going. The problem is how you deal with the last stage which is Nitrate > Nitrogen which is harmless and will be removed naturally. In a wet/dry the last part normally occur via a PWC. In a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) the lower areas of the sand contain the bacteria that convert nitrate into nitrogen. The same occurs in porous rock which contains deep recesses with little water flow. Those areas become devoid of oxygen (anoxic) and that is where the bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen thrive.
I don't see any posts showing that the ammonia level spiked and went down, followed by the nitrite doing the same and then nitrate spiking. At that point you should have done a 30% water change, and waited a week to test all the water parameters.
Stevie, you are missing the point. The nitrogen cycle is the breakdown of organic material that creates ammonia. The ammonia is converted to nitrite and then to nitrate. Ammonia and nitrites are toxic to fish in small doses. Fish can tolerate nitrates up to about 80 -100 ppm. Regardless of which type of filtration you use you are going to get the Waste > Ammonia > Nitrite > Nitrate part of the cycle going. The problem is how you deal with the last stage which is Nitrate > Nitrogen which is harmless and will be removed naturally. In a wet/dry the last part normally occur via a PWC. In a Deep Sand Bed (DSB) the lower areas of the sand contain the bacteria that convert nitrate into nitrogen. The same occurs in porous rock which contains deep recesses with little water flow. Those areas become devoid of oxygen (anoxic) and that is where the bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen thrive.
