LaWoWee
Aquarium Advice Freak
I started cycling a freshwater 20 gallon tank about 8 days ago. I used 10 gallons of the water from a cycled tank. I have new gravel in there and new HOB filters on it one of them being an emperor 280 and i replace the new bio wheel with an established dirty one from my existing tank. After 2 days of running it and consistently adding stress zyme too, i decided to add fish to help cycle. I added 2 bala shark since theyre IMO pretty tough and hardy. Today marks 8 days and for the last 3 days i have been adding generous doses of "Hagen Cycle". I received my API FW master test kit today and i tested the water. My results are as followed:
Ammonia: between 0 - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: around 5.0 ppm
Nitrate: looks like anywhere from 120-160 ppm
The bala sharks seem to be doing fine. Im just wondering if these levels are really bad or normal in the process of cycling. Ive read that water changes are vital for nitrite and nitrate spikes but will PWC's effect any of the bacferia colony that has been established so far?
Ammonia: between 0 - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite: around 5.0 ppm
Nitrate: looks like anywhere from 120-160 ppm
The bala sharks seem to be doing fine. Im just wondering if these levels are really bad or normal in the process of cycling. Ive read that water changes are vital for nitrite and nitrate spikes but will PWC's effect any of the bacferia colony that has been established so far?