(AKA nitrite woes)
I am new to the hobby and have a 5g/25L planted tank I would like to kick start the cycle with. I was told that I would be set up and ready to go within three days of running empty but having done research this is definitely not the case...
I currently have one betta in there but it's going through the nitrite spike and despite frequent (3-4x per day) water changes of 25-75%, I'm not able to keep it down enough for my liking! Ammonia is at 0-0.25 and nitrites vary from 0.25 to over 2ppm. My tap water tests at 0 nitrites. I haven't got a nitrate kit unfortunately. I live in the UK and prime is near impossible to get hold of so I am using stress coat instead. The plants I have are java fern, crypt, amazon sword, two marimo balls (one small, one large), and a type of South American grass. The grass is planted but the sword and crypt are still in the plastic pots I bought them in as I haven't been able to put substrate in properly yet. I have started using Pure Aquarium bacteria balls in my filter upon recommendation but not sure they've made much difference.
My betta is very active and looks happy however I have noticed the formation of a little bit of red around his gills which I'm worried about. I have been using AQ salt for the past two days to try to help him deal with any nitrites built up between water changes (please tell me if this is the wrong thing to do, I am very new to all this). He has a bit of fraying on his anal fin that could be the early stages of fin rot which I am also worried about - I am really keen to keep his water clean especially because of these reasons. I am using stress coat to treat the tap water to hopefully help with his fins. I feel like a bit of a terrible person putting him through this but I have fallen in love with his curious personality already and he is friendly and happy despite the frequent water change disruption.
I have a koi/goldfish pond outside which is well established and has a huge filtration system, and I am wondering if I could seed my small internal filter with media from there? I was thinking that if it was warmed up slowly the bacteria would acclimatise and hopefully work in the fish tank! I'm not sure however as despite a google search there wasn't much on the topic and I don't want to put my betta at risk. This nitrite spike is horrible though! Thank you for your help!
I am new to the hobby and have a 5g/25L planted tank I would like to kick start the cycle with. I was told that I would be set up and ready to go within three days of running empty but having done research this is definitely not the case...
I currently have one betta in there but it's going through the nitrite spike and despite frequent (3-4x per day) water changes of 25-75%, I'm not able to keep it down enough for my liking! Ammonia is at 0-0.25 and nitrites vary from 0.25 to over 2ppm. My tap water tests at 0 nitrites. I haven't got a nitrate kit unfortunately. I live in the UK and prime is near impossible to get hold of so I am using stress coat instead. The plants I have are java fern, crypt, amazon sword, two marimo balls (one small, one large), and a type of South American grass. The grass is planted but the sword and crypt are still in the plastic pots I bought them in as I haven't been able to put substrate in properly yet. I have started using Pure Aquarium bacteria balls in my filter upon recommendation but not sure they've made much difference.
My betta is very active and looks happy however I have noticed the formation of a little bit of red around his gills which I'm worried about. I have been using AQ salt for the past two days to try to help him deal with any nitrites built up between water changes (please tell me if this is the wrong thing to do, I am very new to all this). He has a bit of fraying on his anal fin that could be the early stages of fin rot which I am also worried about - I am really keen to keep his water clean especially because of these reasons. I am using stress coat to treat the tap water to hopefully help with his fins. I feel like a bit of a terrible person putting him through this but I have fallen in love with his curious personality already and he is friendly and happy despite the frequent water change disruption.
I have a koi/goldfish pond outside which is well established and has a huge filtration system, and I am wondering if I could seed my small internal filter with media from there? I was thinking that if it was warmed up slowly the bacteria would acclimatise and hopefully work in the fish tank! I'm not sure however as despite a google search there wasn't much on the topic and I don't want to put my betta at risk. This nitrite spike is horrible though! Thank you for your help!
