Hello,
I am new to the hobby and am just getting started. I have been cycling my tank for a month now and so far have had 10 fish die on me...
I have a 10 gallon tank with a basic Top Fin PF10 filter... nothing fancy as I have to move soon and did not want anything too complicated for now.
I set up my 10 gallon 4 weeks ago with the filter. Here is my setup and what I did:
10 gallon rectangular tank
Top Fin PF10 HOB filter
Standard temperature adjusted heater set at 78F.
Colored gravel (rinsed before setup)
Two cave-like decorations (rinsed before setup)
One airstone
1 Amazon Sword live plant (rinsed before putting in tank)
2 Moneywort live plants (rinsed before putting in tank)
*I used water conditioner and bacterial supplement and have used both again for each water change. (Also making sure the new water matches the temperature of the tank water)
I have been getting the water tested at petsmart and always get a generally decent water rating. However today I bought an API test kit and went through the process and it is NOT GOOD!
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 1.5ppm
Nitrite - 2.0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
I have been cycling this tank for 4 weeks and doing everything I am supposed to do... not sure why my water is still so terrible. I just added a dwarf gourami because I read they are a hardy fish for during a cycle (which I thought was fine until I saw just HOW BAD my water actually is!)
I figured I was further along in this process and that I was only a little ways off from having a fully cycled tank.
The petsmart person told me I should just start over, but honestly I feel like that is just going to ruin whatever minimal progress has been made (if any).
I would appreciate some thoughts from experienced folks!
Thanks in advance!
I am new to the hobby and am just getting started. I have been cycling my tank for a month now and so far have had 10 fish die on me...
I have a 10 gallon tank with a basic Top Fin PF10 filter... nothing fancy as I have to move soon and did not want anything too complicated for now.
I set up my 10 gallon 4 weeks ago with the filter. Here is my setup and what I did:
10 gallon rectangular tank
Top Fin PF10 HOB filter
Standard temperature adjusted heater set at 78F.
Colored gravel (rinsed before setup)
Two cave-like decorations (rinsed before setup)
One airstone
1 Amazon Sword live plant (rinsed before putting in tank)
2 Moneywort live plants (rinsed before putting in tank)
*I used water conditioner and bacterial supplement and have used both again for each water change. (Also making sure the new water matches the temperature of the tank water)
I have been getting the water tested at petsmart and always get a generally decent water rating. However today I bought an API test kit and went through the process and it is NOT GOOD!
pH - 7.8
Ammonia - 1.5ppm
Nitrite - 2.0ppm
Nitrate - 0ppm
I have been cycling this tank for 4 weeks and doing everything I am supposed to do... not sure why my water is still so terrible. I just added a dwarf gourami because I read they are a hardy fish for during a cycle (which I thought was fine until I saw just HOW BAD my water actually is!)
I figured I was further along in this process and that I was only a little ways off from having a fully cycled tank.
The petsmart person told me I should just start over, but honestly I feel like that is just going to ruin whatever minimal progress has been made (if any).
I would appreciate some thoughts from experienced folks!
Thanks in advance!