cycling

[cbster]

had the tank cycling for about 1 week without adding ammonia then read the article on adding ammonia it has been three days and i haven,t had to add ammonia is this alright or should it have gone down by now and the nitrites still show 0 so am i doing it right thanks

 

[Lithril]

Are you saying that you havent had to add ammonia becuase the levels are still high??? If the tank is being cycled from scratch then I'd carry on for a few more days yet, if you add some seeded gravel and/or media then you should have started to see a nitrite spike by now.

Did you dechlorinate the water before you started

 

[cbster]

yes the ammonia level is still 5.0 and i dechlorinate the water but i do not know anyone with a aquaium to add gravel (they all have saltwater) but i did put live plants in but i took the pots off before i read you should leave them on so now what should i do thanks

 

[Lithril]

Taking the pots off won't hurt the tank at all. Might be worth contacting your lfs and seeing if they can help you by giving you a couple of handfuls of gravel to put in there. Also you're not adding Amquel to the tank are you?

 

[cbster]

i thought about getting gravel from them but wasn't sure if they would i haven't found a good lfs except chains around here and you know how they are and i am not adding amquel because i have never heard of it can you please tell me what it is thanks

 

[Lithril]

I'm pretty sure amquel is a water treatment, only problem is that it gives false readings on a lot of test kits. Another option to try is to get hold of some biospira, I've never used it myself but quite a few ppl rave over it, u may be able to get it in ur lfs otherwise try mailorder, I'm sure someone in here will be able to tell u of a good website to get it from.

 

[cbster]

my mom and dad have an outdoor pond with kois in it would that have the same bacteria as a tropical aquarium thanks

 

[Lithril]

I would have thought so but the trouble with that is you're never sure if you're introducing any other disease etc into the tank. I'll see if I can find the web link for buying biospira at some point