Donna, I am far from an expert but will try to help you as much as I can. I recently fishless cycled my 75 gallon tank and that is the limit of my experience.
Did you buy the liquid test kit or the strips? Most people seem to think the test strips border on useless. The API Master Test Kit has earned a lot of acclaim and is what I use.
Your ph is fine, but please be more specific with your ammonia reading. I started my cycle with an ammonia reading of 4 ppm. It is normal not to be measuring nitrites at this point. It took my tank 14 days before ammonia dropped to nearly 0 and nitrites spiked off the chart.
IMHO, bad advice. You shouldn't be doing water changes as this point in your cycle. In fact, many advocates of fishless cycling say not to do any water changes at all until the tank is cycled and you're ready to add fish.
No. It means you have a food source to START the cycle process. When ammonia drops and nitrites spike, that is when you have an indication that your filter is working properly and the cycle has started.
Yes, very normal.
Donna;4520196; said:I bought an Amonia, a PH, and a Nitrite test kit tonight,
Did you buy the liquid test kit or the strips? Most people seem to think the test strips border on useless. The API Master Test Kit has earned a lot of acclaim and is what I use.
Donna;4520196; said:There is a small amount of amonia in the tank, the PH reading is at 7.8, and the Nitrites aren't measuring.
Your ph is fine, but please be more specific with your ammonia reading. I started my cycle with an ammonia reading of 4 ppm. It is normal not to be measuring nitrites at this point. It took my tank 14 days before ammonia dropped to nearly 0 and nitrites spiked off the chart.
Donna;4520196; said:done two 10% water changes in 6 days. Good, or bad advice?
IMHO, bad advice. You shouldn't be doing water changes as this point in your cycle. In fact, many advocates of fishless cycling say not to do any water changes at all until the tank is cycled and you're ready to add fish.
Donna;4520196; said:My question is, since there is amonia in the water, does that mean the tank IS doing it's cycle?
No. It means you have a food source to START the cycle process. When ammonia drops and nitrites spike, that is when you have an indication that your filter is working properly and the cycle has started.
Donna;4520196; said:The fact that there appear to be NO nitrites in the tank, brings me to another question of, is this normal for this stage?
Yes, very normal.