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Murky waterin 5 gallon tank while cycling with food??

746 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  shellieca 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi! I'm new here and I was hoping you guys could help me with my little dilemma seeing as though you guys provide gr8 advice :)
I wanted to upgrade my betta from his 1 gallon tank so I bought a new 5 gallon tank which I began to cycle 2 days ago using the food method (the food is inside a stocking floating in the tank to prevent messes). I noticed today that the water was pretty murky..
The parameters are:
nitrate: 10
nitrite: .8
hardness: soft
alkalinity: 40
pH: 7.9

Are there water changes I should be doing? I'm following the thread that's around here about the methods.. Am I doing something wrong?? I want my Gastly to be comfortable in his new home...
 
#5 ·
You didn't give your ammonia reading. Have you tested your tap water? Its a little unusual to have nitrates & nitrites in 2 days, not unheard of but unusual. I'd test my tap to see what you're starting with. Remove the food IF your ammonia is 3-4, then add back in when ammonia drops to 1 or less to build it back up.
 
#7 ·
You really need to test for ammonia. I recommend getting the API Water test kit as it has all of the necessary tests & is liquid so more accurate than the strips. The test kit gives you well over a hundred tests where the strips only give you 30. More expensive up front but saves you money in the long run. Amazon has it for around $20 which is usually much cheaper than a store.
 
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