Hi there!
We have been around in circles with our tank, and now that it's settling down a bit, I finally found this forum! (Wish I had found it months ago!)
Anyway, the upshot of the whole thing (7 months and lots of opinions later) is that Ammo-Lock (APIs) apparently stunts the entire cycling process. Until 2 wks ago, we have never seen ANY nitrite spike or ANY reading of nitrates.
I counseled with so many "experts." Despite my best attempts to cycle the tank (but naively using Ammo-Lock), the ammonia continued to read 8.0 +, the nitrite never rose (after months and months!!!), the algae somehow grew (??), and recently the guy at the fish store suggested fully stocking anyway...telling me that ammonia is not really that high. he said to consider discontinuing Ammo-Lock, as it was giving the test "a false high."
So I bought a rubber-lipped pleco, to accompany my gourami and dalmation molly. I also bought a couple of fancy guppies. They did fine. Four or five days later, I bought a second molly. The guy at the store suggested adding aquarum salt and platys.
2 days later, the gourami begans attacking the black molly, causing what appears to be an infection which kills the molly. Amazingly (!!!) the nitrites rise, leading to the demise of the other molly, the guppies, and now the pleco.
Now the nitrates are rising, the ammonia and nitrites are dropping, and we'll see if any survive this long-awaited cycling. Ughh...
Lessons I have learned:
1.) Everyone who has ever owned even one goldfish from a school carnival is an "expert" in their own mind.
2.) I don't get particularly attached to fish.
3.) My children do, and sob their hearts out at every loss.
4.) I should ask a person who gives free advice about what to do next if they have ever watched a kid grieve over a guppy.
- Kimberly
We have been around in circles with our tank, and now that it's settling down a bit, I finally found this forum! (Wish I had found it months ago!)
Anyway, the upshot of the whole thing (7 months and lots of opinions later) is that Ammo-Lock (APIs) apparently stunts the entire cycling process. Until 2 wks ago, we have never seen ANY nitrite spike or ANY reading of nitrates.
I counseled with so many "experts." Despite my best attempts to cycle the tank (but naively using Ammo-Lock), the ammonia continued to read 8.0 +, the nitrite never rose (after months and months!!!), the algae somehow grew (??), and recently the guy at the fish store suggested fully stocking anyway...telling me that ammonia is not really that high. he said to consider discontinuing Ammo-Lock, as it was giving the test "a false high."
So I bought a rubber-lipped pleco, to accompany my gourami and dalmation molly. I also bought a couple of fancy guppies. They did fine. Four or five days later, I bought a second molly. The guy at the store suggested adding aquarum salt and platys.
2 days later, the gourami begans attacking the black molly, causing what appears to be an infection which kills the molly. Amazingly (!!!) the nitrites rise, leading to the demise of the other molly, the guppies, and now the pleco.
Now the nitrates are rising, the ammonia and nitrites are dropping, and we'll see if any survive this long-awaited cycling. Ughh...
Lessons I have learned:
1.) Everyone who has ever owned even one goldfish from a school carnival is an "expert" in their own mind.
2.) I don't get particularly attached to fish.
3.) My children do, and sob their hearts out at every loss.
4.) I should ask a person who gives free advice about what to do next if they have ever watched a kid grieve over a guppy.
- Kimberly
