Question: New tank issues

[moth]

I'm getting ready to get my first Axolotl and have gotten the tank set up to cycle and such. I have mostly plastic plants( don't worry I'll get real plants after I get enough cash ) but have included a moss ball and some frogbit to help it along. I've been running the filter, putting in frozen brine shrimp every few days and the nitrates and nitrites have not risen at all. They're both 0 every time I've check the tank for the last 3 weeks, even the ammonia has stayed incredibly low to non-existent despite adding more bits of shrimp in. I also noticed that the frogbit hasn't been doing well, and there's a slimy like film over the top of the water that seems to be coming from the frogbit.

I have a feeling that even after treating my well water that it may be unfit for some reason ( even if the PH, and hardness seem average too? ). I don't have the slightest clue why though.

Should I just start over with the cycling and use bottled water or could I be doing something else wrong?

Thanks for reading.

(I used the caudata artcile on cycling for directions and such as well)

 

[LSuzuki]

You are doing "fishless cycling", right? A little bit of brine shrimp isn't enough to raise the ammonia where it needs to be to cycle the tank. You are best off getting ammonia from a hardware/grocery store and adding that. Get pure ammonia - no scents or anything, and a little bit goes a VERY long way.

Here is one link - Ammonia Instructions For A Fishless Cycle - 19627 Google "fishless cycling" to find more.

The frogbit might not be doing well because there isn't enough food for it. Usually it will use the nitrate (and maybe nitrite and ammonia maybe) as fertilizer. You probably want to take it out while cycling, since the pH will swing around.