i tested my water. i bought a 5-in-1 test kit and i already had an ammonia test kit. the results:

Nitrate: 40ppm
Nitrite 10.0+ppm, the colour was darker than the darkest on the legend.
Hardness(GH) 75 ppm
Alkalinity(KH) 40ppm
pH 6.2
Ammonia .25 ppm

And my water is less than perfectly clear.


Any suggestions?

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

Water change and fast. If you are showing any nitrItes > 0...water change.

NitrAtes are "ok" at 40 but some water changes will help that too.

Do you have any fish in the 10+ ppm nitrite tank? If so, it's a wonder they're still alive....did you retest to verify your results?

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

sound like the tank is still cycling.

stop adding food until nitrItes drop down. Once starting down they will drop to unmeasureable in a couple of days.

I also would add some fast growing plants like anacharis to help with the cycle.


my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

yes i have fish in there, thanks for the advice

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

You do have a tank that is quite a bit overstocked for a cycling tank. I wouldn't add anything more until it has finished.

i re-tested, same results. i just changed 15 gallons. n
nitrate 20ppm
nitrite 10ppm
GH 75ppm
Kh 40ppm
pH 6.2
Ammonia .25 ppm

should i add a capfull of bacteria after the change?

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad

You could add the bacteria, it won't hurt. You should be doing 50% daily water changes until you get your nitrites down to about 1 or below and once the tank has finished cycling it should be zero.

will do, thanks to everyone.

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55 gallon FW community
20 gallon Goldfish
10 gallon firebelly toad