CYCLING MY TANK: Am I doing something wrong??

[teeneythebetta]

My betta has been in her 10 gallon tank for 3 weeks now. The ammonia levels have slowly risen but nitrites have bit gone up AT ALL. they have measured 0 this whole time...

I am siphoning out about 25-30% of the water 2 x a week.

Is it because of the size of my tank that the cycle is going nowhere?? Am I doing something wrong? The tank stays around 78 degrees, gets 8 hours of the tank light being on...

Help?

[teeneythebetta]

Right now the ammonia level is at 1.0 PPM and I'm doing a 30% change because I was told to not let it get over 1.0. Is this correct?

[aokashi]

uhhhh... do you have a filter? what is in your tank?

[teeneythebetta]

Yes I have a filter. In my tank I have my betta, two nerite snails, 1 small java fern.

[Micho]

Fish-in cycling is generally slower simply due to the fact that you have to do a water change every time you get an ammonia or nitrIte reading of 0.25ppm or greater, therefore the beneficial bacteria doesn't have a lot of ammonia to work with.

Be patient, keep checking for ammonia and nitrItes everyday and do water changes when needed. Sometimes it takes months. :)

[Bombalurina]

+1. Personally, I wouldn't even let the ammonia rise as high as 1. I'd be doign a change at 0.25-0.5.

Give it time. Even in a fishless cycle it can take a month or more, so with a fish-in cycle where you have to keep diluting the ammonia, expect it to take a while.

[teeneythebetta]

Thanks guys so much!

I will keep an eye on that ammonia, I did a 50% change to bring the level down.