I bought a 10 gallon in the middle of February. It had 5lbs substrate, a 10-gallon filter w carbon filter media, heater, bubbler, stocked with a platy, molly, and 2 African dwarf frogs. I have literally gone through two whole bottles of "bacteria" (SeaChem stability and API QuickStart) trying to cycle this thing. I've been using SeaChem prime with each water change. I've been checking the parameters regularly, the ammonia seems to fluctuate between 0.25-1ppm, and I only have ever noticed the nitrites elevate ONCE. Recently, I started getting nitrates reading between 0-5ppm (it's hard to tell exactly). I moved the aquarium today into my new apartment, saved 5gallons of the water and have it all set up (plus finally added an additional 5lbs gravel substrate). Checked the parameters and ammonia is 0.25, nitrite 0, nitrate still looks to be between 0-5. Any ideas on what I'm doing wrong? Just heads up, 10-gallon is all I can have, believe me I would love a 20gal but just not anytime in the near future. I haven't lost a single fish or frog yet, and I really hope they all survive. But this cycling thing is taking WAY longer than anticipated. I was thinking 4-5 weeks, not 2 months!
PS I feed them every 2-3 days and do a 25% PWC after every feeding.
Any tips on strategies to speed cycling or suggest what I could be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated! When I'm done cycling I'd like to get one more molly and one more platy.
PS I feed them every 2-3 days and do a 25% PWC after every feeding.
Any tips on strategies to speed cycling or suggest what I could be doing wrong would be greatly appreciated! When I'm done cycling I'd like to get one more molly and one more platy.