kimball2014
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Mar 7, 2015
- Messages
- 18
I have been cycling my first 5 gallon tank for the past 5 weeks and now that I think of it, I overstocked the tank I initially had one betta in it and I should've stopped stocking more.
1 x betta
1 x albino cory
1 x zebra danio
4 x ghost shrimp
1 x african dwarf frog
Anyways, I am still cycling the tank. The ammonia level has been steady at or below 0.25ppm for the past 7 days but the nitrite has been a big problem. I am doing daily 20% PWC to get the nitrite level down but in couple hours, the nitrite spikes up off the chart. So now I am doing daily 20% PWC twice a day (morning and evening) I am using Prime as a conditioner and also to detoxify the bad nitrite.
So now my question is,
1) Since the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite are established, should I just keep doing PWC till the bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrate are established? (there are currently 5ppm nitrate)
2) If prime detoxify the ammonia and nitrite for 24-48 hours, what's the point of doing PWC? Can't I just use Prime every 24 hours without doing water changes?
3) Is my tank too overstocked? I can rehome Betta to another small tank but cannot upgrade to 10G or larger tank at this moment
1 x betta
1 x albino cory
1 x zebra danio
4 x ghost shrimp
1 x african dwarf frog
Anyways, I am still cycling the tank. The ammonia level has been steady at or below 0.25ppm for the past 7 days but the nitrite has been a big problem. I am doing daily 20% PWC to get the nitrite level down but in couple hours, the nitrite spikes up off the chart. So now I am doing daily 20% PWC twice a day (morning and evening) I am using Prime as a conditioner and also to detoxify the bad nitrite.
So now my question is,
1) Since the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrite are established, should I just keep doing PWC till the bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrate are established? (there are currently 5ppm nitrate)
2) If prime detoxify the ammonia and nitrite for 24-48 hours, what's the point of doing PWC? Can't I just use Prime every 24 hours without doing water changes?
3) Is my tank too overstocked? I can rehome Betta to another small tank but cannot upgrade to 10G or larger tank at this moment