Cycling requires feeding your cycle, daily testing and patience.
If you want to move it along faster add a heater, nitrifying bacteria supplement and/or old dirty filter media from another tank (not out of a filter for more than 15mins)
Pure cleaning ammonia - no scents, surfactants or additive or dry ammonium chloride
Test daily (ammonia, nitrite once you see nitrites then start testing nitrate daily as well)
Dose your ammonia back to 4ppm daily
Add a heater 76-78 degrees
Add nitrifying bacteria supplement daily at highest dose for 7 days
If ....
Ammonia is over 4ppm - 33% water change and retest to verify 4ppm still
Nitrite is over 2ppm - 33-50% water change
Nitrate is over 160ppm - 75% water change
pH lower than 6 or higher than 8.2 AND your cycle has stalled - 50% water change
In your testing daily you should see....
-ammonia dropping at some point
-nitrite starting to rise at some point
-eventually you will start to see nitrates - do a happy dance
Once you have nitrates keep testing daily and dosing ammonia to 4ppm.
When you notice you dose ammonia and within 24 hours and retest you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and all nitrates do a massive happy dance time for your 3 day challenge!!
3 day challenge is status quo - test, dose ammonia to 4ppm and wait 24 long hours repeat 24 hours repeat. If your tests came to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and all nitrate you are cycled !!
Now to get your temp down very slowly, get your pH in check - you do need to continue feeding the cycle through this.
Examples or Nitrifying bacteria supplements
Seachem Stability
Seachem Pristine - if you have low ph sometimes you need this one
Dr Tim's one and only
Tetra Safe Start plus
API stress zyme
Nutrafin Cycle
I have the master API test kit. Everything is low sitting at “zero”
