Ammonia .25ppm, Nitrite/Nitrates 0ppm. What do I do?

[vundercoverdog]

I just checked the parameters in my 5 gal and it reads no nitrates. Idk if it has crashed.

Ammonia .25-.5ppm
Nitrite 0ppm
Nitrate 0ppm

It finished cycling about a month ago.

I currently have 2 bettas in there. And 2 small Sword plants, and 1 root tab. No CO2 or ferts.

I'm battling some brown algae right now and about a week ago I did a 50% water change and 3 days later I changed my filter cartilage for the first time. Could that have screwed up my tank?


Do I have to start the cycle over?


Please tell me I can fix this.

 

[Super_Blueberry]

If you threw away your filter cartridge, then you also threw away your bacteria colonies. Basically you started your cycle over from scratch.