Ulmina
Aquarium Advice Regular
Okay, so I followed all the advice given and I feel like I ended up back in the same place. I was dosing the ammonia every other day (as this was when it had dripped to almost 0ppm) and things had seemed to be moving in the right direction again. Then a few days ago I dosed the ammonia again and now my levels have been around 1 ppm ammonia, nitrites off the charts, and nitrates haven't gone above 5 ppm or so at all. Is there any hope that my tank will cycle any time soon? I'm trying to remain hopeful, but I feel like no matter how closely I follow instructions, I end up back here. Should I just wait to see if the ammonia keeps dropping? It's going down, but it's going down incredibly slow the past few days. I appreciate the help!
I know I've read about it & it's supposed to be the primo modern way, but i have never used the pure ammonia -- or any bottled ammonia. How counter-intuitive lol. My honest feeling, though radical i'm sure, is I suggest you dump the whole set-up, rinse it all out (no soap, but swish and rub everything you can under running water with your hands -- and freakin' start over fresh. Do not use the stuff you used, just use some cheap tropical flakes in an amount like you were actually feeding some fish in there, and I think you'll be amazed. Don't do any water changes during the process and don't bother testing before the 3rd or 4th day, then no more than every 2 days. Keep adding a little food every day or 2 and have faith. I would put some real plants in there, too. I always have them.
Maybe there's some factor you've left out or don't know about that's preventing your getting the right advice -- but unless there's something weird that no one can think of, this should work.
Good luck and have fun.