PepperidgeFarms
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I'm super confused about my tank. This is my first time doing a fishless cycle so I bought some ammonia for it.
I started cycling about 11 days ago. I got the water to about 4 ppm and left it. I put in a piece of congo driftwood which I stupidly only rinsed off and didn't boil so it had some crazy mold or algae growing on it. I took it out, scrubbed it and boiled it for hours but people online seemed to think it's nothing dangerous.
Anyway after 8 days the readings were already
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
.5 nitrates
I went on vacation for a couple of days so decided to pour a bit more ammonia in since I didn't want to add fish and leave them alone right away totally unsupervised so I figured when I get back I can add some plants/fish when it's ready.
Today (3 days after re-adding the ammonia) the readings are
0 ammonia
2-5 nitrites (I have the hardest time differentiating the colours when they're so close)
.5 ammonia
Could the tank really be almost cycled within 11 days? When can I start adding plants?
Also I boiled the wood for a few hours and there seems to be more stuff growing back during while I was away. It's not nearly as bad but there's still some. Should I just boil it for hours again?
I started cycling about 11 days ago. I got the water to about 4 ppm and left it. I put in a piece of congo driftwood which I stupidly only rinsed off and didn't boil so it had some crazy mold or algae growing on it. I took it out, scrubbed it and boiled it for hours but people online seemed to think it's nothing dangerous.
Anyway after 8 days the readings were already
0 ammonia
0 nitrites
.5 nitrates
I went on vacation for a couple of days so decided to pour a bit more ammonia in since I didn't want to add fish and leave them alone right away totally unsupervised so I figured when I get back I can add some plants/fish when it's ready.
Today (3 days after re-adding the ammonia) the readings are
0 ammonia
2-5 nitrites (I have the hardest time differentiating the colours when they're so close)
.5 ammonia
Could the tank really be almost cycled within 11 days? When can I start adding plants?
Also I boiled the wood for a few hours and there seems to be more stuff growing back during while I was away. It's not nearly as bad but there's still some. Should I just boil it for hours again?
