frankjr
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi all!
I have a 29 gal tank with HOB 160 gph filver that has been up for about 19 days. I'm having trouble getting the tank to cycle for the first time. Here are the water stats:
NO3 20
NO2 0.5
GH 150
KH 120
pH 7.8
NH3/NH4 0.25
Temp 78
I have 1 sword, 2 mollies, and 5 neons in the tank. As NO2 and NH3/NH4 begin to rise to about 1.0 or 0.5 respectively (beginning of stress on my test strips) I've been doing a 25% water change about every other day. I haven't changed the filter media yet, though I did vacuum a bit during one of the water changes.
1. Am I doing anything wrong? Should I be letting NO2 and NH3/NH4 go higher before water changing?
2. I have a 5 gal quarantine tank (no gravel just the tank). Could I put the fish in the 5 gal and fishless cycle the 29 gal the rest of the way then move them back to expedite or am I better off trying to naturally cycle the 29 gal?
Also, the water is very slightly cloudy, what's causing this?
Thanks!
Jeff
Jeff
I have a 29 gal tank with HOB 160 gph filver that has been up for about 19 days. I'm having trouble getting the tank to cycle for the first time. Here are the water stats:
NO3 20
NO2 0.5
GH 150
KH 120
pH 7.8
NH3/NH4 0.25
Temp 78
I have 1 sword, 2 mollies, and 5 neons in the tank. As NO2 and NH3/NH4 begin to rise to about 1.0 or 0.5 respectively (beginning of stress on my test strips) I've been doing a 25% water change about every other day. I haven't changed the filter media yet, though I did vacuum a bit during one of the water changes.
1. Am I doing anything wrong? Should I be letting NO2 and NH3/NH4 go higher before water changing?
2. I have a 5 gal quarantine tank (no gravel just the tank). Could I put the fish in the 5 gal and fishless cycle the 29 gal the rest of the way then move them back to expedite or am I better off trying to naturally cycle the 29 gal?
Also, the water is very slightly cloudy, what's causing this?
Thanks!
Jeff
Jeff