goldfish1212
Aquarium Advice Activist
I'm trying to cycle my 10 gallon in a fishless cycle but I'm having some issues. I used pure ammonia from the grocery store, unscented etc, and the ammonia went from about 8ppm and dropped and is now going from about 6 ppm to 0 in about two days. However the nitrite, which is now so high my test registers 5ppm in less than 30 seconds, will not drop. There was a little blip 5 days ago where I thought it was dropping, but the next day nitrites were as high as ever. It's been 18 days cycling and around 10 days since the ammonia dropped first and still nothing. Nitrates are at 5ppm and have been for a few days.
There is also something going on with my ph, it's below 6 in the tank which is the lowest my test measures but when I measure the tap water I used originally, the ph is 7.6. What is causing this??? How can i fix the ph crash??? I also have some cholla wood I really want to put in eventually as well, but with the ph already so low how do I offset driftwood bringing it down even more?
I have the tank heated to between 82 and 84 F, I used api stress coat plus to treat the water first and twice now when I need to raise the water levels above the heater. The filter is an aquaclear 20 and I have it going in the middle of the tank with the water down a little to provide aeration. Sand substrate if that matters.
Am I putting in too much ammonia? I didn't want the bacteria to die but should I just leave the ammonia levels down when they fall? I plan to get lots of low light plants, would putting some in now help bring in bacteria cultures or just destroy the cycle? I'm in university without access to brick and mortar fish stores and I don't know anyone with a fish tank nearby so please don't just tell me to get seeded material...
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app
There is also something going on with my ph, it's below 6 in the tank which is the lowest my test measures but when I measure the tap water I used originally, the ph is 7.6. What is causing this??? How can i fix the ph crash??? I also have some cholla wood I really want to put in eventually as well, but with the ph already so low how do I offset driftwood bringing it down even more?
I have the tank heated to between 82 and 84 F, I used api stress coat plus to treat the water first and twice now when I need to raise the water levels above the heater. The filter is an aquaclear 20 and I have it going in the middle of the tank with the water down a little to provide aeration. Sand substrate if that matters.
Am I putting in too much ammonia? I didn't want the bacteria to die but should I just leave the ammonia levels down when they fall? I plan to get lots of low light plants, would putting some in now help bring in bacteria cultures or just destroy the cycle? I'm in university without access to brick and mortar fish stores and I don't know anyone with a fish tank nearby so please don't just tell me to get seeded material...
Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app