BrendaW

You mention that your ammonia, nitrites and nitrates are low. Only your nitrates should be low. The other two should be zero.

Thanks. I use Easy Green and Root Tabs so maybe it will grow.

One of my Tiger Lotus sent a shoot out and it appeared to be in the substrate. Then the original plant bulb broke away and all the leaves came off. The bulb in still in the aquarium. Will the old bulb grow more leaves or is it done?

My 5.5g Betta tank just completely cycled Sunday. It has been 2 months with constant worry about ammonia. I tested every day (sometimes twice) and even worried at night that my cute Betta wouldn’t make it through the cycle. I’ll never do an in fish cycle again. The smaller the tank the harder it is. And now I can’t relax. I’m still testing each morning like I did. As time goes on I think it will get better. I only test my 30g Platy tank once a month but my Betta is special. I went through a lot of Prime.

I have two Danios in my 30g tank. One in particular chases everyone. I’m sure it will live forever! My Betta is by himself. He would probably be okay in the community tank without the Danio but I’m not going to take that chance. Good luck with them. It’s probably from ammonia burn during shipping. I was at my lfs once and they were unboxing the fish. The water was green and most fish were dead according to the lady that worked there.

Your Betta looks fine. How long have your had the Danios? I bought five and only have two left. Your Betta looks just like mine, even the blue fins growing from his body.

Thanks all for advice on my Betta tank. I received the kh/gh test kit and the results are 2d/3d. Last Friday the PH was 6.6. The next day it was 7.6. Sunday it was 6. I did a large WC due to ammonia readings. Today the PH is 7.2. The PH is all over the place. Should I put some crushed coral in the tank and if so how much? My cycle is stalled. I have none or very little nitrate and zero nitrites. Ammonia is still .25.

I don’t know anything about kh and gh but I ordered the kit today. When I do water changes the ph goes up slightly then as the day goes by it goes back down. Something is causing it. I’ve read that BB cannot survive below 6ppm PH so maybe kh is causing drop in PH and that’s why I’ve never seen nitrites. Does this make sense? Before this is over I’m going to know all about kh and gh.

Does your test look like this?

I’m using API test kit and have been seeing what appears to be ammonia reading, no nitrites and some nitrates. The Tetra strip shows no ammonia. I’ve been dosing with Prime to keep my Betta alive. Now I read GuppySnail saying there is slight green when using Prime. That may be my problem! I’ve got a conversation going on this site about cycling my 5g aquarium and someone else said the same about Prime.

I just have gravel in the tank, bought from Petco. Yes I read that lower PH makes ammonia less toxic. But it also slows the cycle. I wish I had paid more attention in Chemistry.

I checked the tap PH, 5g PH and 30g PH. The first one is tap water, second is Betta 5g tank and last one is 30g community tank filled with plants. No philodendron though. It makes no sense the PH is so low in the small tank. Driving me crazy.

I took the philodendron out although I hated to. My Betta loves them. My 30g planted tank has PH of 7.2 so I don’t understand why this one is so low. We’ll see if the ammonia reading is lower and PH rises. I’m on well water and no, I haven’t tested for GH and KH. No algae in the tank either.

It’s Philodendron. I have the whole leaves and roots in there. It’s not an aquarium plant but I’ve seen it in other setups growing OUT of the water. The test strip didn’t test for ammonium. I mentioned it but I don’t believe she knew what that was.

Thanks for the reply. My Betta is doing good. I do feed him three times a day but very little and he eats all of it. I will drop down to once a day and stop adding the Prime every day and see what happens. I failed to mention I have floating plants, some Java Fern and one other thing my old brain can’t remember. Could that have anything to do with less Nitrates?

I’ve been trying to cycle my 5.5g tank for over a month. Seeded sponge, media from 30g tank but no luck. I have one Betta in the tank and use Prime every day. Some days I have less ammonia and it appears I have some nitrates. No nitrites (API text kit). I took my water to Petco today to get a second opinion with their test strips and it says no ammonia. My test tube shows light green and not yellow. I’ve read that low PH can cause slow cycling. My PH is 6 or under. I’m obsessing with this little tank. Every morning testing water. Help.