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what is your filtration setup like?
hi guys, i have a 2 ft tank which i have been cycling for 3 weeks now already. however the ammonia level seems to stay at 8 still. may i know if this is normal. there is no fauna inside at all.
what is your filtration setup like?
CRS - CRazy about Shrimps
- Alan Phang -
You can't explain it simply, you don't understand it (well enough )..." - Albert Einstein
my filter is a eheim 2213, containing ceramic rings, carbon, biohome sintered glass
still learning the hard way!!
what soil are u using? maybe the soil is still leaking ammonia? or get another testkit?
im using ada soil and the API test kit.
still learning the hard way!!
ADA soil will release ammonia for their first few weeks. Have you tried testing for nitrite?
If you can get nitrite, your cycle is going well, its just that the bacteria colony is not large enough yet. If there's no nitrite, then something is wrong with your water that even bacteria cannot grow.
When did you first detect the elevated increase of the ammonia readings? Did you use any bottled BBs?
New Ada have alot ammonia if i m not wrong 3 weeks it will still stay high wait another week might drop a little also depend on what you added in
do you add plant? plant will help take out those ammonia
For the first 2 weeks I use BT-9 and Bactermax. According to the recommended doses, alternatively.
I have mosses in the tank. US fissiden,Flame moss,mini pelia and subwastang (all moss on wiremesh). I have 10 ceremic rings in the tank for BB to grow.
during second or third week. I have a infestation of what I think is cyanobacteria(transparent webbing flakes) all over my moss and soil . Therefore I did a 80% water change. After the water change I dose 1 time of bt-9 and stopped as I felt it does not help.
I bought 4 otto to help clean up the tank on the third week.
My 2213 eheim filter has ceremic rings(s/m), sponge, biohommes,eheim subtract pro.
I also have a air-powered sponge filter in the tank.
using New amazonia adasoil
I got ammonia 4-8ppm(green color might be in between).
Nitrite at 0.25ppm
Nitrate at 5ppm ( I think the moss help to decrease the nitrate)
My php also very low alway 5.3-5.5
currently should be third or fourth week
Last edited by Neondagger; 20th Oct 2011 at 18:08.
still learning the hard way!!
I suppose you added anti-chlorine/chloramines like Mosura Shizhen when you set up your tank and during your water change.
You should continue to dose BT-9 after your water change especially when you change that much water
Just a note.. the reason why your cycling is so slow is due to your very low pH. Your bacteria will not be able to (or will do so at extremely low rate) colonize. Once they go below 6.0, the chances that the nitrification process stops completely is very high.
Nitrosomonas (Ammonia to Nitrite) bacteria takes, in ideal conditions, 7 hours to double in population. Nitrobacter (Nitrite to Nitrate) takes 14-16 hours. With such a low pH, this process lengthen exponentially. Dosing bacteria will not help much either as the moment these bacteria colony becomes active (usually within 8 hours of introducing into the tank) most of them will die.
The fact that you do have Nitrite indicates that there is still nitrification going on, but at a snail's pace. Look into increasing your pH and see if that helps..
I did add mosura shizhen during water change.
What safe ways I can use to increase my PH. I intend to keep CRS probably S-SS grades and I do not want my ph to spike or be too high. Should I dose PH-up or Add some mineral rocks?
still learning the hard way!!
i always use ice mountain works all the time. my tank is a 2ft too so it wont cause u a bomb.and is the safest and fastest way tat i know of beside water change with de- chlorinated water that is...
Every time I top up around 10% water, I realise the PH would increase using aged water but is will increase to probably 5.6-8 then after 1-2hrs drop back to 5.3-5.5.
Will Ice Mountain increase my ph above 6? I probably need to get ph above 6 constant for a 1week at least for the BB to grow.
still learning the hard way!!
it is just pure clean water so it is ph7 and it does not contaning any other minerals in it so should be ok if ur water still acid then just give it more time to cycle.i use ice mountain with bt-9 for my sakura shrimps they are doing good.
Have more oxygen (use air stone) and don't on your chiller (low temperature slows down BB growth) can help your BB grow faster
sorry. ice mountain is not pure water. its mineral water.Originally Posted by xconnect.
http://www.nestle-watersna.com/pdf/im_bwqr.pdf
CRS - CRazy about Shrimps
- Alan Phang -
You can't explain it simply, you don't understand it (well enough )..." - Albert Einstein
You beat me to it i not surprise sooner or later the water is rock hard
So I guess all I can do now is to add a airstone to my tank and wait for the BB to grow faster.
still learning the hard way!!
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