Barbarino
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I had two FW tanks all through the 90s. One 55 gal. and a 29 gal. high. Had a pretty thorough education on the nitrogen cycle from the LFS, and successfully cycled both tanks with just one casualty and kept them fully stocked until Oct. 2002. I did not have a tank again until now. So I finally started a new 29 gal. tank on Dec. 15.
After researching online and falling back on my experience, I chose to do a fish-in cycle. I was immediately pleased to see bacteria in a bottle. Since I don't have access to any from an established aquarium. If it would actually help was the question. Anyway I decided to try some of the Seachem Stability.
Fast forward to now, exactly 9 weeks into the cycle. I have 3 Red Tiger Barbs and two Long Finned Tetras in the tank and no, the Tigers aren't nipping the Tetras. All fish look good.
The interesting part of this story are the test results.After about a week the ammonia was about .25 ppm. The ph is about 7.8 and the water is pretty hard. I also always read about 10-15 ppm nitrate from the tap. I did a pwc anytime the ammonia got above .25 for the next 6 weeks, usually 2 a week. I never saw the ammonia rise above .50 ppm. I finally saw about .50 ppm nitrite at about 7 weeks. Ammonia still at about .25 ppm. Did 2 pwc in 4 days about 25% each.
The following week I was reading about .5 ppm nitrite and .25 ppm ammonia. Did a pwc of about 40%.
Today is 9 weeks. I just tested and my results are interesting! I'm seeing a little under .25 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and around 20 ppm nitrate.
It's a little strange for the nitrite cycle to be that short and low! And since I have nitrate in my tap water, it's hard to tell how much my BB are producing. And why am I still seeing the small ammonia reading?
I will continue to monitor for now, but has anyone had experience with using the Seachem Stability? I think it might be the reason for the test results. It appears that the tank still will cycle naturally, even with the Stability.
After researching online and falling back on my experience, I chose to do a fish-in cycle. I was immediately pleased to see bacteria in a bottle. Since I don't have access to any from an established aquarium. If it would actually help was the question. Anyway I decided to try some of the Seachem Stability.
Fast forward to now, exactly 9 weeks into the cycle. I have 3 Red Tiger Barbs and two Long Finned Tetras in the tank and no, the Tigers aren't nipping the Tetras. All fish look good.
The interesting part of this story are the test results.After about a week the ammonia was about .25 ppm. The ph is about 7.8 and the water is pretty hard. I also always read about 10-15 ppm nitrate from the tap. I did a pwc anytime the ammonia got above .25 for the next 6 weeks, usually 2 a week. I never saw the ammonia rise above .50 ppm. I finally saw about .50 ppm nitrite at about 7 weeks. Ammonia still at about .25 ppm. Did 2 pwc in 4 days about 25% each.
The following week I was reading about .5 ppm nitrite and .25 ppm ammonia. Did a pwc of about 40%.
Today is 9 weeks. I just tested and my results are interesting! I'm seeing a little under .25 ppm ammonia, 0 ppm nitrite, and around 20 ppm nitrate.
It's a little strange for the nitrite cycle to be that short and low! And since I have nitrate in my tap water, it's hard to tell how much my BB are producing. And why am I still seeing the small ammonia reading?
I will continue to monitor for now, but has anyone had experience with using the Seachem Stability? I think it might be the reason for the test results. It appears that the tank still will cycle naturally, even with the Stability.