We had been trying to get our cycle established on this new tank for a while, with no luck. At one point, we had a small amount of nitrites, but ammonia levels were not dropping and there were never any nitrates detected.
A couple weeks ago I did a major water change, took the fish out, vacuumed the gravel, and of coarse, once I put the fish back, the NO2 levels were 0...few days later, still 0, and so on.
I got a little desperate and bought a bottle of Cycle from my lfs. Everyone said it was bunk, but I figured it couldnt hurt anything, except make me $8 poorer. I tested my water levels for a couple days. The NH stayed pretty low but I didnt see any NO2. I added some more cycle, about 3-4 times the recomended amt total. and...
Today (about 5 days after adding the Cycle) I checked NH and NO2. No ammonia! and no Nitrites???...
so I checked the Nitrates and, miracle of miracles, they are somewhere between 10-15ppm!
A couple weeks ago I did a major water change, took the fish out, vacuumed the gravel, and of coarse, once I put the fish back, the NO2 levels were 0...few days later, still 0, and so on.
I got a little desperate and bought a bottle of Cycle from my lfs. Everyone said it was bunk, but I figured it couldnt hurt anything, except make me $8 poorer. I tested my water levels for a couple days. The NH stayed pretty low but I didnt see any NO2. I added some more cycle, about 3-4 times the recomended amt total. and...
Today (about 5 days after adding the Cycle) I checked NH and NO2. No ammonia! and no Nitrites???...
so I checked the Nitrates and, miracle of miracles, they are somewhere between 10-15ppm!