Hi! Now that I've got my 2 gallon and 14 gallon fully cycled, I'm still trying to get my 5 gallon tank cycled. It's been going on for about 6 weeks with one betta. Some of the water parameters are stable, ph at 7.6 and temp is about 78F. I've put in beneficial bacteria several times, but whatever I do, I can't seem to get any nitrites. I'm trying to control the ammonia with water changes and so far the betta seems fine. After the ordeal of the 14g tank, once I added the little bit of coral rock, the ph stopped crashing, so I figured the tank would cycle quickly. I'm using Tetra Safe Start with biospira and after I add it, I get some nitrates up to about 30ppm, but these bacteria aren't hanging around, probably because there aren't enough nitrites to feed them. Any thoughts on why this might be?? I know you're more familiar with cycling with fish, so I thought you might be able to help!!
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5 gallon cycle with fish stalled
genfishie
Mar 13, 2011 01:39 PM
Replies (1)
phishie
Mar 13, 2011 04:59 PM
Your nitrites are supposed to be 0 ppm when your tank is cycled (Nitrates = less than 40 ppm). Seems like there aren't enough Nitrosomonas. See the link below for detailed information about the nitrifying bacteria.
Congrats on your 14 gallon, by the way. 
New Aquarium Setup
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Phishie
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