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Thanks for the help!

I have a question about low nitrates. I was about to do my weekly water change & just tested everything in my tank. My ammonia & nitrites are at 0, and my nitrates are at around 5. I've been doing about 40% weekly changes and added a couple plants (not sure what kind but one of them is growing...

Nothing that I could think of that could have gotten into the tank or water changing equipment, I keep it all in the same place & it isn't exposed to anything. I didn't notice any symptoms on any of the fish. The only thing I can think of was the 4 that died were from 2 tanks at Petco and the...

All of my #s were consistent with readings of 0 for ammonia & nitrites and nitrates at 10 after 2 50% water changes. PH was at 7.6 as well consistently so on Friday I added 3 corys (2 albino, 1 peppered), 4 zebra danios, 3 platys, a male fancy tail guppy & 2 apple snails. Everyone was doing...

Got it, thanks jlk & Bearchumjs, I thought nitrites/nitrates were the actual bacteria, didn't realize it was the waste. Science is not my specialty obviously. Thanks for clarifying!

I'm always curious why people say adding water won't have an effect? I know the bulk of nitrites/nitrates live in filter media mostly but when cycling, if you do a 50% water change, your nitrites/nitrates would be cut in half meaning you are eliminating 1/2 of them by removing water only, so...

Ok, thanks for your help. So you would suggest a couple male guppies then, as opposed to 1? Thanks for your help!!

The measurements are 20 x 11 x 19 I was looking at albino corys. Is there a small school you would recommend instead of zebra danios. Thanks for your help.

I'll be stocking my 16 gallon high shortly & wanted to know if my planned stock list is too large - 3 albino corys 3platies (orange & red) 4 zebra danios 1 fancy tail guppy Also would like to add a few shrimp & snails. Please let me know if that is a good load for a 16 gallon high. Thanks.

Gotcha, well thanks with all of your help, it's much appreciated!

Okay thanks. It's a 16 gallon high. I'm looking at a total stocking list of 3 corys, 3 platys, a fancy tail guppy, a few ghost shrimp & zebra danios. Is that too much for that aquarium size?

Okay thanks. I had been doing 4 ppm the entire cycle up until 2 days ago. Should I work back up to 4 before adding fish?

My #s as of lat night after a 50% water change & adding ammonia up to 2 ppm were - Ammonia - 0 Nitrites - 0 Nitrates - 20 PH - 7.6 I did another 50% water change & added ammonia up to 2ppm again, so if ammonia & nitrites are at 0, I will add fish tonight (after another water change to bring...

Yes you are right, I will test again tonight when I get home. I decided to do a 50% water change last night since my nitrates were so high. Then I added enough ammonia to bring it back to 2ppm. Hopefully my #s hold up.

So now my levels are Ammonia - 0 Nitrites - 0 Nitrates - 40 PH - 7.6 My PH held up & my nitrites are finally at 0. I'm going to add ammonia to get it up to 2ppm tonight & if ammonia & nitrites are at 0 again tomorrow, I'll do a pwc to bring nitrates down & 2then finally add fish.

Sounds good, thanks

Yup, they have been at 5 or more since I started checking for them on day 6 (now on day 30) My PH was stable at 7.6 as of last night. I haven't dosed yet today, I usually do at about 6 pm. So should I skip adding ammonia until my nitrites are readable, or just for today? Thanks for your help!

I've been on phase 2 for 21 days now so I'm getting a bit impatient but hopefully it's not TOO much longer.

Oh really? Okay thanks. I've had nitrates visible since day 8 of my cycle but it's been constantly between 5 - 10 ppm, so I was shocked at this big jump. Does that mean that I'm nearing the end of my cycle? I'm on 30 days now (had a few stalls) I'll keep an eye on my PH & do PWCs as needed. I...

I'm at a complete loss w/ what's going on with my cycle. I went on vacation from 4/21 - 4/25 and did a shrimp in pantyhose to keep a constant ammonia source, however I came back to see that my heater was broken & the temperature was down into the 60s, stalling my cycle. I exchanged the heater...

Thanks for the advice. I'll do another big water change tonight.

Here were my results from last night's test, PH dropped a bit more. Ammonia wasn't at 0 most likely because it was 20 hours since I last added (I've been testing every 24 hours but had to test earlier last night) PH - 6.0 Ammonia - .5 ppm Nitrites - 5 ppm + Nitrates - 5 - 10 ppm (in the...

Okay, thanks. Any idea on what %?

It's 8.

Thanks for the reply. I'm doing a fishless cycle so I'm not worried about that, but my pH has dropped from 8 to 6.6 in 5 days so I'm a bit concerned & wonder if I should do a water change so it doesn't stall my cycle.