Thanks man Appreciate itThat looks amazing you should be proud of your work. How are the fishies settling in?
That's pretty much what I thought.A bigger water change, I'm afraid. And lots of them until nitrite stays at zero.
Or follow the instruction s in the second part of this link on how to use salt to reduce the effects on nitrite on fish.
Rescuing A Fish In Cycle Gone Wild - Part Il
Part II SO YOU STILL WANT TO KEEP CYCLING WITH FISH? If you are determined to ignore the above advice in Part I and still think you want to proceed with a fish in cycle, then you need to be aware of the information presented below. SOME IMPORTANT FACTS ABOUT AMMONIA Ammonia in water exists...www.fishforums.net
Common salt is sodium chloride, and chloride blocks nitrite from binding to the fish's blood.
Thanks,The bacteria grow faster when ammonia/nitrite is higher. But the high levels damage the fish. So it's either grow bacteria faster and risk the fish or take longer to grow the bacteria with less damage to the fish. I sometimes wonder if shop workers know what ammonia and nitrite do to fish - ammonia burns their gills making it harder for them to take up oxygen and nitrite blocks the oxygen receptors in their blood.
That's one advantage to using salt. You can allow nitrite in the water to grow the bacteria faster without the fish coming to harm. I know it's a complicated calculation, and more salt has to be added if the reading creeps up, but it does help.
And you can add bottled bacteria as well, just make sure it's one that contains the correct nitrite eaters - Tetra Safe Start or Dr Tim's One & Only. Use of the correct species is copyrighted so no other products can use them. (Members who use it say Tropco Goop works as well but their website lists the wrong nitrite eaters).