Hooray?

[pendragon]

Might it be worth noting that I did originally have 3 platys in the tank but lost 2 of them after a few days (this was before I added the plants), might this have been the ammonia spike?

Very, very doubtful. Probably some other kind of stress got to them.

If you had an ammonia spike sufficient to kill two platys, there would be evidence of it in your water parameters now.

pendragon!

 

[ChriX]

OK well thanks for all the help, I will test again this weekend and possibly add a few danios.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

Lelover, doing water changes may slow it down, but our first concern should be the health of the fish. When cycling with fish it is important to keep ammonia levels as low as possible, and water changes should be done as often as necessary to achieve this.

ChriX, at this point your bio-filter is probably established, but it is very small, almsot insignificant. This is the reason why it is being recommended that you add just a fish or two every couple of weeks, to avoid any dangerous ammonia spikes. As long as you stick to this type of guideline you will be OK.