maximovv
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hi everyone,
I am new here and hope someone can help me solve a puzzle I have been struggling with for months. I have kept freshwater fish for years and never had this problem before. So, last summer I moved to North Carolina and within a month was able to set up my 20g tank - filled up with tap water, filter, live plants, and waited for it to get cycled. I expected, within a month, it would happen, as it always did before. For five months now, I keep having the exact same levels of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, and nothing seems to help. Ammonia is at 0.5, nitrites at 0, and nitrates at 10. PH is about 7.2-7.4. I thought that there were supposed to be bacteria in the tap water that would later multiply in the tank. I figured that was not the case this time, so I went to the store and bought live bacteria - three times. The first time I bought a product by Tetra (I think) and followed all instructions - no change. Then I got the Special Blend by Microbe-Lift, poured the whole bottle in as I was disappointed with the first trial, but no change again - not within a week and not within a month. Last week, I got the Microbe-Lift Nite-Out II, I have been following instructions so far, and yet absolutely no change in the water readings.
Any idea what is taking place? Are these products complete junk - or is something wrong in my tank, or something in the water of NC? I have lived in Georgia and Florida before and always did the same, and it worked. For months now I cannot introduce fish in the tank, and my kids even stopped asking for it
max
I am new here and hope someone can help me solve a puzzle I have been struggling with for months. I have kept freshwater fish for years and never had this problem before. So, last summer I moved to North Carolina and within a month was able to set up my 20g tank - filled up with tap water, filter, live plants, and waited for it to get cycled. I expected, within a month, it would happen, as it always did before. For five months now, I keep having the exact same levels of ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates, and nothing seems to help. Ammonia is at 0.5, nitrites at 0, and nitrates at 10. PH is about 7.2-7.4. I thought that there were supposed to be bacteria in the tap water that would later multiply in the tank. I figured that was not the case this time, so I went to the store and bought live bacteria - three times. The first time I bought a product by Tetra (I think) and followed all instructions - no change. Then I got the Special Blend by Microbe-Lift, poured the whole bottle in as I was disappointed with the first trial, but no change again - not within a week and not within a month. Last week, I got the Microbe-Lift Nite-Out II, I have been following instructions so far, and yet absolutely no change in the water readings.
Any idea what is taking place? Are these products complete junk - or is something wrong in my tank, or something in the water of NC? I have lived in Georgia and Florida before and always did the same, and it worked. For months now I cannot introduce fish in the tank, and my kids even stopped asking for it
max