yes, sounds like you hit the nail on the head. if anything you needed another airstone in there just to be safe.
To answer your question about speeding up the cycling process, with fish currently in the tank i am not aware that you can.
do you kow if your tank had finished cycling before you removed the foam pads and replaced with ceramic rings?
even though the "bb" grows on every surface, the main colonising area would be within the filtr elements so removing them and putting, presumably premature ceramics in would have initiated a "mini cycle" hence your crazy unexpected readings. that is only if you removed the pads if you did not, how long was the dead fish in your tank for? give the substrate a good hoover and check for any uneaten foods etc. and try to avoid adding any chemicals if possible you can overcome these spikes with small but often water changes, if you see necessary a 20% water change morning and 20% at night.
hope any of this info helps you out.
Callum.
To answer your question about speeding up the cycling process, with fish currently in the tank i am not aware that you can.
do you kow if your tank had finished cycling before you removed the foam pads and replaced with ceramic rings?
even though the "bb" grows on every surface, the main colonising area would be within the filtr elements so removing them and putting, presumably premature ceramics in would have initiated a "mini cycle" hence your crazy unexpected readings. that is only if you removed the pads if you did not, how long was the dead fish in your tank for? give the substrate a good hoover and check for any uneaten foods etc. and try to avoid adding any chemicals if possible you can overcome these spikes with small but often water changes, if you see necessary a 20% water change morning and 20% at night.
hope any of this info helps you out.
Callum.
