SammyTheLotus
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- Feb 17, 2016
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- Newfoundland and Labrador
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- Samantha
Has my cycle crashed? How to fix it?
Hey everyone,
So my tank has been cycling for about 4, almost 5 weeks now. Recently I found out that the Axolotl I'm buying is very young and small, so putting it in my tank with the sand substrate I had in there might have been harmful for it. I made the decision to remove all the sand (I did not remove all the water when I did this) and as well I had to remove several large rocks that were in the tank, and four out of five plastic plants that were anchored in the sand (the remaining one has a base and is weighted).
I know that a lot of the bacteria that are established during the cycling process were removed when I took these things out of my tank. But my cycle hasn't been the same since and I'm having a hard time getting it back on track!
I use "Old Country" liquid ammonia as my ammonia source and right now it's between 1.0 - 2.0 PPM, and my Nitrites are zero. They've been zero consistently for the last week or so and haven't changed one bit, and same with my ammonia. The only way it goes down is if I water change, but it doesn't seem to be able to get to the point where it converts on it's own to nitrites now that the sand/rocks/plants are gone.
I completely understand how the cycle works and it was almost done until I had to remove everything, so as you can imagine I'm pretty frustrated!
I guess what I want to know is if anyone else has any experience with a crashed cycle and where I should go from here? My plan has been to raise my ammonia to 1.0 - 2.0PPM (which I did with my liquid ammonia), and wait for it to convert into nitrites and go from there.
Any ideas why it isn't happening for me would be super appreciated! :talker:
Hey everyone,
So my tank has been cycling for about 4, almost 5 weeks now. Recently I found out that the Axolotl I'm buying is very young and small, so putting it in my tank with the sand substrate I had in there might have been harmful for it. I made the decision to remove all the sand (I did not remove all the water when I did this) and as well I had to remove several large rocks that were in the tank, and four out of five plastic plants that were anchored in the sand (the remaining one has a base and is weighted).
I know that a lot of the bacteria that are established during the cycling process were removed when I took these things out of my tank. But my cycle hasn't been the same since and I'm having a hard time getting it back on track!
I use "Old Country" liquid ammonia as my ammonia source and right now it's between 1.0 - 2.0 PPM, and my Nitrites are zero. They've been zero consistently for the last week or so and haven't changed one bit, and same with my ammonia. The only way it goes down is if I water change, but it doesn't seem to be able to get to the point where it converts on it's own to nitrites now that the sand/rocks/plants are gone.
I completely understand how the cycle works and it was almost done until I had to remove everything, so as you can imagine I'm pretty frustrated!
I guess what I want to know is if anyone else has any experience with a crashed cycle and where I should go from here? My plan has been to raise my ammonia to 1.0 - 2.0PPM (which I did with my liquid ammonia), and wait for it to convert into nitrites and go from there.
Any ideas why it isn't happening for me would be super appreciated! :talker:
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