Frederick B. Henry Jr. wrote:

My 3 black neon tetras, 1 h. rasbora and 2 glowlight tetras seem very
happy, and aside from the diatom/brown algae I have to scrub away with
water changes, the tank is clear. Today, more than two months after I
set up the 10g tank, and after even trying some (useless) Cycle, my
ammonia is approaching 2 ppm, my nitrite is just over 0.25 ppm and my
nitrate is 5 ppm. These readings have not changed in the past ten days.
The ammonia will decrease with a 25% water change, but NO2 and NO3
remain basically the same. The pH is 7.6, the tank temp is 75 F. Tank
light is on for about 12 hours a day. No live plants. Feedings have
been very restricted, with many skipped days.

Should I just be patient or what? Why am I not seeing the ammonia drop
if there is nitrite *and* nitrate present?

What water conditioner and ammonia test are you using? Ammonia bound by
AmQuel, Prime, Ammo-Lock, and similar chloramine treatments registers on
many test kits as free ammonia.

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