Hi everyone. I am knew to aquariums and I need some help…
Ok…I am currently in the process of fishless cycling a 5 gallon aquarium. I got seed gravel from LFS and started ammonia (ACE Hardware) at 5ppm. The ammonia came down over 5-7 days and my nitrites started showing up (spiked). Now at day ~12 my nitrites are >5ppm (off the chart) and my nitrates are >100ppm.
I am only dosing my ammonia up to 2ppm since the initial drop. Why do I have sky high nitrates without any drop in my nitrites? Do I do a PWC or just leave it alone and let it run its course. I don’t want to inhibit growth of the nitrite converting bacteria by the high nitrites/nitrates.
Thanks for any suggestions. I appreciate the help! J
Ok…I am currently in the process of fishless cycling a 5 gallon aquarium. I got seed gravel from LFS and started ammonia (ACE Hardware) at 5ppm. The ammonia came down over 5-7 days and my nitrites started showing up (spiked). Now at day ~12 my nitrites are >5ppm (off the chart) and my nitrates are >100ppm.
I am only dosing my ammonia up to 2ppm since the initial drop. Why do I have sky high nitrates without any drop in my nitrites? Do I do a PWC or just leave it alone and let it run its course. I don’t want to inhibit growth of the nitrite converting bacteria by the high nitrites/nitrates.
Thanks for any suggestions. I appreciate the help! J