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subee4

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Apr 9, 2016
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Hello all. I am a newbie to having an aquarium and am very much looking forward to getting my tank set up.

I became interested in setting up a tank when I was given a betta fish in a medium sized bowl and started reading about how you should properly care for them. After reading a number care guides, I decided to purchase and set up a 5 gallon aquarium and I can't wait to eventually get my betta in the tank.:fish2:

Of course, as I read about caring for fish, I also learned about fishless cycling for new tanks and I started the process. Here is where I feel I have run into some trouble.

I followed the fishless cycle instructions and after setting up my tank, I added ammonia to bring the level to 3-4ppm. I have checked the water every day to see if I need to add additional ammonia to keep the reading at this level. Occasionally, I have had to add additional ammonia (level sometimes seemed to go as low as 2ppm) and the levels have never been above 5ppm. After about a week or so, I also started testing for nitrites every other day and so far I really have not seen any (perhaps I had a reading of 0.25ppm).

I wouldn't worry about this except it is now day 25, so I feel I must be doing something wrong and would appreciate any help/advice.

Other information that might be useful to know:
- I did add de-cholinator to the water in the tank after I set it up and a day before I added ammonia
- The temperature in my tank is currently high to try and encourage the cycle (~87)
- I have covered the tank to keep the environment dark
- I did not have any filter material from another tank but I did add some substrate from the bowl my fish was originally in to the tank
- I have occasionally added some ground fish flakes to the tank
- The pH reading in the tank is ~7.8 which I know is a bit high but I understand should be good for promoting nitrites

As noted, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
It could take 4-6 weeks start fin from scratch, so dot give up hoped One thing I would do differently is wait until the ammonia gets to zero or close to it before dosing again. And perhaps only dose to 2 ppm because your stock (initially) appears to be a single Betta.


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Hi, welcome. Have you tested for nitrates at all (both in tank and tap water)?

It seems strange you are re-dosing ammonia but getting no nitrites increase. Silly question but is the test kit still in date and being used as per instructions?

Ph seems fine. If all else fails you could try a partial water change.

Sometimes nitrites coming in seems to come and go very quickly while other tanks I've seen take up to 2 months to cycle.
 
Good advice above. I just want you to know you're not alone. Some tanks are stubborn. The instructions at at the API website say to shake the nitrate test bottle #2 vigorously for 30 secs before using. I think I remember someone saying that it's because it can crystalize and reading can be inaccurate.
 
Good advice above. I just want you to know you're not alone. Some tanks are stubborn. The instructions at at the API website say to shake the nitrate test bottle #2 vigorously for 30 secs before using. I think I remember someone saying that it's because it can crystalize and reading can be inaccurate.


This is true and a particular problem with a new test kit as it may have been sat around for a long time, even if still in date, and the crystals are harder to break down in a full bottle because there's not much space above the liquid. Shake the hell out of it. When used regularly, and the level drops in the bottle, a good 30 second shake is sufficient.
As the liquid / crystal ratio is vital for accurate readings you can see that not only would you get an incorrect reading by not absorbing the crystals but future tests would also become inaccurate as the liquid/crystal ratio will have changed.
If when using bottle #2 the dropper seems blocked then it will be a crystal and that's a good indication that you've not shaken it enough.
It really isn't as tricky as it sounds but it does help to understand why the shaking of the bottle and subsequent shaking of the test tube for one minute is important.
Timing is also critical for the nitrate test, after the five minutes resting time the colour will continue to redden so the only accurate reading is bang on the five minutes. I use a timer on my phone, 1 minute shaking, 5 minutes resting, bleeper goes off, reading taken. Job done.


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Stop adding Ammonia.

Let the beneficial bacteria do its job and only add Ammonia when it reaches 0 PPM BUT, do not let the ammonia sit at 0 PPM or more than 24 hours.


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