My tank is taking forever to settle down (over 2 months so far) and I'm wondering how much "cleaning" should be done during the initial cycle. At first I'd vacuum the gravel and discard the dirty water once per week. At that time I'd add fresh water...this amounted to a 10% water change each week. 30+ days in and the tank seemed really good so I added 2 fish to the 8 that were already there. Things didn't go well. Ammonia shot up. I started doing the vacuum gravel water change almost daily. Then the pH jumped. At that point I had to neutralize the pH, buy something to detox the ammonia (didn't really work) and I quit cleaning and changing water for about 10 days. Ammonia has not improved...probably got worse. So, while the tank cycles should I change water and vacuum the gravel? Thanx.

For starters, don't add any more fish until you're seeing nitrates --- and only nitrates.

If your ph is high out of the tap (it shouldn't change for any other reason unless you have a large piece of driftwood -- which would make it go down, or are using CO2) try filtering through something called peat moss. If your filter doesn't have an extra slot for a media bag to put some in, I'd consider getting a larger and stronger filter, possibly even rated for 20gal more than your tank size.

Stop using those ammonia detoxifiers. They're probably really screwing with your cycle and bacterial colonies more than anything else. If you get an ammo spike remove more water 50% or more if necessary, and re-test daily. Otherwise, keep doing your 10% weekly.

Ph up and ph down and ph neutral are also wastes of money. They aren't buffers like driftwood or peat moss and can create large ph swings, and sometimes not work at all.

If your filter has an area for biological filtration take extra care not to rinse it in tap water. chlorine will kill any bacteria on it. In fact if you can help it altogether rinse the whole filter in used tank water. This will preserve any bacteria on all surfaces of it. If your filter doesn't have ''biological'' filtration I'd also consider getting another filter...

with fish 2 months is just way too long.

Not adding fish. It's killing me to watch the loaches suffer. If there's a silver lining the Tetras seem quite happy but that hardly makes up for the loaches. The pH seems fairly steady at 7.2-7.3 but ammonia is still very high at 0.81. Alkalinity is 31ppm...what should it be? As for the filter. I have an Ehiem cannister filter with 3 chambers..it's rated for 60 gallons (I have 37). Coarse blue pad at the bottom and fine white pad at the top. bio-substrate fills in the rest of the space. I've only touched the filter once and it didn't look much different then when I set it up. The white pad at top seems dirty, the bio-substrate didn't look any different and The blue pad at the bottom seemed almost new. Water in the cannister had some solids so I dumped it but refilled with tank water before putting everything back together. Sound about right?

Something doesn't sound right. It's taking too long to cycle. When you vacuum the gravel, are you stirring up the gravel or just hovering the vacuum tube over the gravel? If you are stirring up the gravel you are probably interfering with the growth of bacteria in the substrate. Even in a cycled tank you should only "thoroughly" clean the substrate in one half of the tank at a time. The substrate holds a substantial amount of the beneficial bacteria.

Check that you're not overfeeding. I wonder if possibly you're overfeeding and causing a continuous source of incoming ammonia that is causing your tank to stay ammonia-heavy? Just thinking. That is awfully high ammonia for 2 months in.

Make sure you're not "over-cleaning" your filter, the substrate, decor, and just about any other surface that contacts water. If you are, you're disturbing the bacteria that is trying to grow. Perhaps you're inadvertently killing off bacteria as it is trying to gain a hold.

When I get an ammonia spike at or near 1.0 or above I change 50% of the water every day until I get it down. That is a toxic level for the fish. How are your nitrites? Nitrites are actually more toxic than ammonia.

As for pH....that's tough. My water has naturally high pH, around 8.0. For a long time I worked with all sorts of techniques, chemicals, tricks, you name it, to bring it down. All I accomplished was a fluctuating pH that was ultimately harmful to my fish. I finally took good advice and accepted my naturally high pH. I just get fish and plants that are suited to my pH and all is well.

Zambize