Hello,
I have been having quite a bit of trouble getting my tank to cycle. I have a betta and a 5 gallon tank, filtered with a heater. I didn't know about cycling, unfortunately, until after I purchased the betta and he developed fin rot. I am no expert but everyone has told me it is fin rot. He is a blue butterfly betta, but developed red marks on his top fins, and now more than before.
I started at the beginning of December doing 25% water changes daily once I learned about cycling. This made most of the red go but the tank never cycled. I get readings of .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5 ppm Nitrate. On the second day the ammonia would go up to .50 and I would do a water change to bring it back down. I did see a nitrite spike one day around Christmas, but then it went right back to zero. Nitrates also rose slightly but they are already back to 5ppm. My tap water has 5ppm already so I don't think the nitrates are there from the cycle. My tap water also has .25 ammonia, which I recently found out, so I have been using water from our PuR filter which has no ammonia. I use Prime in the replacement water.
About 3 weeks ago I purchased Stability to help things along, and dosed as directed but still nothing. I have continued with the water changes because the ammonia gets too high. I tried to stop the water changes for a few days to see if that was the problem, but yesterday the ammonia went to 1ppm! I dosed the entire tank with Prime so the fish would not get hurt. Today the ammonia is back down to .25, no nitrite, and 5ppm nitrates. These are the same readings I get every time for two months now.
Couple things to mention, we have well water that is very hard and goes through a water softener. In the beginning I was using this water for water changes until I discovered it had ammonia in it. I now use the PuR filter, so hard water from the well, that goes through the water softener and then through the PuR filter. I can access the well water before it goes through the softener but it has .25/.50 ammonia in it already.
Should I keep trying the Stability, and am I doing something wrong?
Should I use the water from the PuR filter, or well water before it's softened? I know the salt can't be good for the fish and also the minerals are all stripped from the water.
Is there a product I can use to put the minerals back in the water if I continue to use the PuR water?
Thank you for the help,
Merrimack
I have been having quite a bit of trouble getting my tank to cycle. I have a betta and a 5 gallon tank, filtered with a heater. I didn't know about cycling, unfortunately, until after I purchased the betta and he developed fin rot. I am no expert but everyone has told me it is fin rot. He is a blue butterfly betta, but developed red marks on his top fins, and now more than before.
I started at the beginning of December doing 25% water changes daily once I learned about cycling. This made most of the red go but the tank never cycled. I get readings of .25 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5 ppm Nitrate. On the second day the ammonia would go up to .50 and I would do a water change to bring it back down. I did see a nitrite spike one day around Christmas, but then it went right back to zero. Nitrates also rose slightly but they are already back to 5ppm. My tap water has 5ppm already so I don't think the nitrates are there from the cycle. My tap water also has .25 ammonia, which I recently found out, so I have been using water from our PuR filter which has no ammonia. I use Prime in the replacement water.
About 3 weeks ago I purchased Stability to help things along, and dosed as directed but still nothing. I have continued with the water changes because the ammonia gets too high. I tried to stop the water changes for a few days to see if that was the problem, but yesterday the ammonia went to 1ppm! I dosed the entire tank with Prime so the fish would not get hurt. Today the ammonia is back down to .25, no nitrite, and 5ppm nitrates. These are the same readings I get every time for two months now.
Couple things to mention, we have well water that is very hard and goes through a water softener. In the beginning I was using this water for water changes until I discovered it had ammonia in it. I now use the PuR filter, so hard water from the well, that goes through the water softener and then through the PuR filter. I can access the well water before it goes through the softener but it has .25/.50 ammonia in it already.
Should I keep trying the Stability, and am I doing something wrong?
Should I use the water from the PuR filter, or well water before it's softened? I know the salt can't be good for the fish and also the minerals are all stripped from the water.
Is there a product I can use to put the minerals back in the water if I continue to use the PuR water?
Thank you for the help,
Merrimack
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