hello! this is my first time ever posting something on Reddit lol! but I got into the hobby to hopefully try and get some vampire crabs. I built my first tank and I'm loving it! it's been about two weeks since i set up the tank and I'm having a lot of issues with my water testing.. my ammonia is BAAADDD. like 8ppm bad. I've been doing daily 50% water changes with pre conditioned water, removed any and all dying plants, and lowered my water level a bit to see if my soil could possibly be getting oversaturated.. but nothing is making too big of a difference yet. if it helps my palidarium seems to just be leaving it's mold cycle, but I'm not sure if that's contributing at all.. I attached a pic of what my water levels were like right after a water change, but it always seems to come back up. I have isopods and springtails in the tank, but they've only been there for around 3-4 days and I don't think I'm overfeeding anything…
i let it sit for 7 days before testing or anything, please help! i have another small tank that's thriving and the water is just fine, i used pretty much the exact same materials for both and don't know why one is failing..
by kyro_cynical
3 Comments
Are you familiar with the nitrogen cycle? Kudos for having a water test kit. I’d test the water directly from the source just to rule out if there is already ammonia present. Dose your tank have a filter? Or are you counting on plants to be a biological filter
something is rotting in the water..🤷
To be clear, you just finished setting up your tank 2 weeks ago? I’m reading that right?
If it’s only been two weeks since you setup your tank and started your cycle, then the problem here is that your tank just isn’t cycled yet. That process takes at least 4-8 weeks when done naturally (and properly), without seeding your ecosystem with beneficial bacteria. And if you’re not regularly feeding your nitrogen cycle during this process you can crash it and have to start over.
So, you have two choices – continue to wait, make sure to feed your cycle, and test regularly to determine when your cycle is complete, OR, seed your tank with bottled bacteria/established filter material.
It’s helpful to know that the slowest part of the cycle is the nitrite portion. It takes a lot longer to build up the bacteria that converts nitrites to nitrates than it takes for ammonia, and it can often feel like you’re stalling. Since you’re still heavy on ammonia, you might see some benefit from adding bottled bacteria to get you pushed into the nitrite portion sooner. If you want to go that route, Fritz Turbo Start is the gold standard, and the only real *live* bacteria option on the market that is guaranteed to work.
I used Fritz Turbo 700 for a fish-in cycle on a totally fresh tank (I was rebuilding after an NZMS infestation) and it still took 2 weeks to build enough bacteria to fully processe nitrites to nitrates.
You could also ask your LFS for used filter material to seed your tank, but that comes with risks and is honestly how I believe I ended up with the NZMS, so beware lol