Thank you for the suggestions! I did a ~60% water change yesterday, and I think my readings are finally on the API test kit's scale. I somehow lost the color chart though, so I'm not 100% sure! It still turns the bright pink color, but this time it actually takes 5 minutes to develop instead of turning that color instantly. I think I might be getting there! I think I'll do another water change this weekend or next week as well.
I have a considerable amount of plants, and I think they might be helping (though they make it hard to get an accurate scale of nitrate development because I don't know how much they are eating.
How low does pH have to go before it starts interfering with the cycle? I've been playing around with water parameters a bit because my water is terribly hard and I want to keep fish that enjoy soft water. I know it's not an absolute necessity to do this, because fish can adapt, but it gives me something tank related to do and I find it interesting. I mix tap (300+ ppm GH and 150+ ppm KH, pH ~8) with distilled water, about 50-50, and I've been using peat filtration as well. My GH appears to be down to ~100, KH very low, taking 2 drops to turn the solution's color for the API test kit (don't remember what that corresponds to). The LOWEST my pH has dropped to is 6.4, and I have been testing every day to measure how much of an effect peat moss has on the system.
I think my problem is that using raw shrimp as a source of ammonia, I have no way to regulate. In a small tank, I think it produces more than the desired 3-5ppm per day, and thus my ammonia bacteria, thriving, converts it to a LOT of nitrite. Too much nitrite for the nitrite colony to take care of. Maybe with regular, large water changes I can cut that down!
On the bright side (I think), I seem to be getting my first algae, which I have heard doesn't really show up until your tank is getting near cycled? It's brown, thread-like algae that's growing on the leaves of plants. Any ideas on the best way to remove it?
