Ammonia&Ph stuck! Can’t move them! Help please!

[TwoTankAmin]

Bear in mind you do not need to add ammonia every day. Make sure you only dose things as directed both for timing and amount.

1. One and Only should only need to be added once.
2. Dechlor only when you have to change water and then do not overdose. Ammonia detoxifiers slow the cycle as do water changes.
3. The live plants will be doing some of the cycling so this will make the results a bit different from what you would see in a fishless cycle w/o live plants. You might not get much of a nitrate reading. at all.
4. Shoot to keep the pH at about 7.0 or higher during the cycling. The further you get below 7.0 the slower the cycle will go and the less of the ammmonia that will be in the NH form. This also slwos the cycling but does not [prevent it.
5. Feel free to add more plants. The more of them you have the more of the cycle they handle.
6. Since the plants do not create nitrite when they use ammonia, the more plants one has the less nitrite you will see.

This doesn't not involve luck, it is all bio-chemistry and should follow a predicatable path as long as we don't do thinhs tyo interfere with the process or to derail it totally.

One of the most important nut harder skills we have to learn as fish keepers, especially in terms of cycling, is patience

 

[joldencox]

Parameters:
Ph:6.0
Ammonia: 0.5ppm
Nitrite:0ppm
Nitrate:0.20ppm
55 gal tank
Tararium UV Filter
Sponge filter
Gravel substrate, a few fake rocks
Some fake plants/ some plants.
Story: A few weeks ago I lost my last fish. The tank was empty for about 2 weeks. I tested using API kit. Saw I had an Ammonia spike to .80ppm. Did a 50 % water change. Dosed with Prime & Stability. Next day the Ammonia dropped. Did the water change and dosed again. Did this for a week-7 days. Ph stayed steady at 6.0 the whole time. Ammonia dropped to 0.25. No Nitrite change ever, stayed at 0 the whole time! But the Nitrates rose to 0.25ppm. I added a few plants and dosed Aquarium Co-op all in one and added fertilizer tabs into the gravel. Next day the Ammonia stayed and the Nitrates rose to 0.40.
I did one more 50% water change. This was Monday of this week. I tried doing an ammonia calculator app that measures NH3 & NH4. It told me I had 0.00001 NH3. Said I was okay for ammonia. So I stopped doing the water changes thinking that the API kit was reading it slightly off since they say it combines the NH3 and NH4 to get its reading.
Yesterday I added Seachem Neutral Regulator to try to get my PH up. I had also added two aerator balls to get more agitation. Read somewhere this would help raise the PH. The ammonia calculator is helpful kind of like using a graphing calculator for quick numbers but the real issue is the pH.
Today I tested again. PH is still 6.0. Ammonia is at 0.5ppm now! Nitrites 0 still. Nitrates 0.40ppm.
I’m at a complete loss of what to do next. Water changes for sure. But what else?

View attachment 233497

It looks like your tank cycle stalled because the pH is stuck at 6.0. At that low level, the good bacteria can’t grow, which is why you’re seeing ammonia but no nitrites at all. The ammonia calculator is helpful kind of like using a graphing calculator for quick numbers but the real issue is the pH.


Try these steps:

• Do regular water changes to keep ammonia down.
• Use Prime to detoxify ammonia for a day or two.
• Raise pH slowly with crushed coral or aragonite instead of chemicals.
• Add more fast-growing plants if you can.

Once the pH rises a bit, your bacteria should start working again and the cycle will continue normally. You’re on the right track your tank just needs time to stabilize.