Deckape
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- Mar 8, 2011
- Messages
- 1,567
librarygirl said:Hm, if nitrites rise and fell your tank should be cycled. Did you test the PH of your tap water and again after leaving it out for 24 hours? It's possible your normal PH is 6.8 which is fine, just want to make sure it isn't dropping. Did ammonia ever fall to 0 after dosing from 3-4 or has it always just fallen to 1 even when nitrites were showing? You could try dosing to 2 ppm of ammonia for a few days instead of 3-4 and see what happens. If the ammonia clears to 0 and nitrites stay 0 I'd say you could start adding some fish slowly. Dosing to 3-4 is designed to be overkill; fish won't produce 4 ppms of ammonia in a tank unless you grossly overstock it. So if you can get 2 ppm of ammonia to clear to 0 in 24 hours for a few days I'd say you could start adding fish slowly.
I completely agree. Sound advice. Good job sticking with the cycling. Your fish will thank you for it.