i have a moderately planted 29 gallon freshwater tank. i established it about a month ago.
the problem is the tank doesn't seem anywhere near a complete cycle.
the ammonia levels started off around 2ppm. fortunately, almost all of it was NH4 since the pH was so low. soon after, the nitrite levels started to shoot up to around 2-4ppm. to deal with both problems, i started dosing API's Stress Coat. after i was told this product agitated the scales of the fish to produce the slime coat, i stopped and started using amquel+ instead. i also started adding Seachem's Stability to prime the filter.
i've almost run through my 3rd bottle of amquel+ and still no signs that the tank has cycled yet. the Stability bottle is about half empty too. everyday requires a 15% water change as well. i've also reduced the quantity of food. the poor fish get a scant portion of food 2x a day. they eat everything.
i think i have enough surface area for the colonies. the tank has lots of plants and 3 medium piences of mopani driftwood. the filtering is done using a 170gph powerhead with a large sponge filter, and a penguin biowheel 350 filter.
i don't have too many fish. i have 1 full grown angelfish, 3 medium sized angelfish, 1 large golden killie, 3 medium sized golden killies, 1 full grown opaline gourami, and a small discus.
currently the pH is around 7 which is going to cause the NH4 to start turning in to NH3. the temp ranges around 80-86F which is going to cause more NH3. the nitrites keep in check for about a day. i dose amquel+ in the AM when the nitrites peak, and add a bit when i do a water chage. this is when i add the Stability as well. it takes about 30 mins for the amquel+ to neutrize the nitrites.
i know, i should have done a fishless tank cycle, but i didn't know too much when i started the tank. it's funny how much you learn when in a crisis.
what can i do to speed up the cycle? is there another product besides Seachem's Stability that would do a better job of getting things going?
the problem is the tank doesn't seem anywhere near a complete cycle.
the ammonia levels started off around 2ppm. fortunately, almost all of it was NH4 since the pH was so low. soon after, the nitrite levels started to shoot up to around 2-4ppm. to deal with both problems, i started dosing API's Stress Coat. after i was told this product agitated the scales of the fish to produce the slime coat, i stopped and started using amquel+ instead. i also started adding Seachem's Stability to prime the filter.
i've almost run through my 3rd bottle of amquel+ and still no signs that the tank has cycled yet. the Stability bottle is about half empty too. everyday requires a 15% water change as well. i've also reduced the quantity of food. the poor fish get a scant portion of food 2x a day. they eat everything.
i think i have enough surface area for the colonies. the tank has lots of plants and 3 medium piences of mopani driftwood. the filtering is done using a 170gph powerhead with a large sponge filter, and a penguin biowheel 350 filter.
i don't have too many fish. i have 1 full grown angelfish, 3 medium sized angelfish, 1 large golden killie, 3 medium sized golden killies, 1 full grown opaline gourami, and a small discus.
currently the pH is around 7 which is going to cause the NH4 to start turning in to NH3. the temp ranges around 80-86F which is going to cause more NH3. the nitrites keep in check for about a day. i dose amquel+ in the AM when the nitrites peak, and add a bit when i do a water chage. this is when i add the Stability as well. it takes about 30 mins for the amquel+ to neutrize the nitrites.
i know, i should have done a fishless tank cycle, but i didn't know too much when i started the tank. it's funny how much you learn when in a crisis.
what can i do to speed up the cycle? is there another product besides Seachem's Stability that would do a better job of getting things going?