TheAviator
New member
I recently started my tank all over due to the crazy Texas ice storms we had. Tore the tank down, cleaned, all new sand, bleached the dry rock and cured it. Started from scratch. I used dr Tims to do a fishes cycle. Everything was going great, by week 2 I was already seeing a drop in ammonia. Thats where the good stopped. I can't seem to get my Nitrates to go down. Its now been 3 months since I started using Dr Tims and I see no change in Nitrites. It seemed I was getting some Nitrates, so I thought I would give it time.
After 2 months, I did almost a 80% water change to lower the Nitrite levels to a readable level. That did work, Nitrites and Nitrates lowered as expected. However, no further movement. Just seems to be stuck. I stopped dosing ammonia because there was no point at this juncture. It just made my nitrates sky rocket again with no movement. PH is 8.2, temp is 82 degrees. Ammonia is zero, Nitrites are currently around 2ppm (Test kit is difficult to read). Nitrates are around 20ppm.
What should my next step be here? I currently have a fish that's been in a frag tank for 3 months that I want to get back in his tank. But I can't do it if I can't get the levels under control.
My thought is, I do another water change, get the Nitrates down to about 5-10ppm. Add the fish and dose more bacteria with him in the tank. But I'm really not sure what to do anymore. Ive had this tank almost 2 years now and I can't seem to get anything right. Definitely getting frustrated, if I can't get this thing going, maybe these tanks are just not for me!
After 2 months, I did almost a 80% water change to lower the Nitrite levels to a readable level. That did work, Nitrites and Nitrates lowered as expected. However, no further movement. Just seems to be stuck. I stopped dosing ammonia because there was no point at this juncture. It just made my nitrates sky rocket again with no movement. PH is 8.2, temp is 82 degrees. Ammonia is zero, Nitrites are currently around 2ppm (Test kit is difficult to read). Nitrates are around 20ppm.
What should my next step be here? I currently have a fish that's been in a frag tank for 3 months that I want to get back in his tank. But I can't do it if I can't get the levels under control.
My thought is, I do another water change, get the Nitrates down to about 5-10ppm. Add the fish and dose more bacteria with him in the tank. But I'm really not sure what to do anymore. Ive had this tank almost 2 years now and I can't seem to get anything right. Definitely getting frustrated, if I can't get this thing going, maybe these tanks are just not for me!