Hi everyone,
I've been trying to cycle my tank for nearly 3 months now. I have one adult axolotl, 1 plant on driftwood with moss on it, 1 ceramic pot, river rocks as substrate and 1 filter.
After a few months the ammonia levels settled down and are now 0ppm, however, the nitrite levels are quite high (2ppm). The nitrate is usually between 5-10ppm. Whenever the level of nitrite gets high I do partial water changes (originally 30% but now it gets high so quickly that I need to do 50% changes - but this still doesn't bring it down to 0). Green algae started to grow on the ceramic pot once the ammonia levels dropped and nitrite levels rose. The pH is between 7.4 - 7.6.
I feed my axolotl frozen bloodworms and sometimes earthworms. Her tank gets quite a bit of sun/natural light.
My axolotl still seems happy but I know the nitrite is way too high for her. Can anyone tell me if this is a normal part of the cycling process or what I can do to fix it? I am reluctant to do more than 50% water changes as I worry that this may undo all the cycling progress so far.
Thanks
I've been trying to cycle my tank for nearly 3 months now. I have one adult axolotl, 1 plant on driftwood with moss on it, 1 ceramic pot, river rocks as substrate and 1 filter.
After a few months the ammonia levels settled down and are now 0ppm, however, the nitrite levels are quite high (2ppm). The nitrate is usually between 5-10ppm. Whenever the level of nitrite gets high I do partial water changes (originally 30% but now it gets high so quickly that I need to do 50% changes - but this still doesn't bring it down to 0). Green algae started to grow on the ceramic pot once the ammonia levels dropped and nitrite levels rose. The pH is between 7.4 - 7.6.
I feed my axolotl frozen bloodworms and sometimes earthworms. Her tank gets quite a bit of sun/natural light.
My axolotl still seems happy but I know the nitrite is way too high for her. Can anyone tell me if this is a normal part of the cycling process or what I can do to fix it? I am reluctant to do more than 50% water changes as I worry that this may undo all the cycling progress so far.
Thanks