37 gallon cycled but the nitrites...?

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Jim53

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Hello,

My tank cycled in a little over 4 weeks and the last two days I was getting the following readings using my api master kit

Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0ppm
Nitrates 80ppm

I did a 90% water change last night and I tested it a little while ago and here are the reading
Ammonia 0ppm
Nitrites 0.50ppm
Nitrates 20ppm

Did I take out too much water or something?
 
Did you use dechlorinated water to refill the tank?

Did you wash the filter at the same time you did the water change?
If yes, then you might have upset the filter bacteria.

If no, then the filter might have been upset by the water change or you got a faulty reading, possibly due to something in the test phial.

Rinse the phials out under the tap before and after testing. Then rinse the phial out several times with tank water before taking the sample to be tested. Do not put your finger over the phial when you swirl the solution around because oils and dirt on your skin can affect results. Also the chemicals used in test kits are pretty toxic so you want to avoid coming in contact with them.

Test the tank water again and see what the readings are. You might have knocked some of the bacteria about and they should recover pretty quickly (within 24 hours).
 
Unless I am mistaken the cycle works something like this.

Ammonia is converted to Nitrite.
Nitrate is converted to Nitrate.

And in a correctly cycled tank the Nitrate is converted to Nitrogen, If you are seeing high Nitrate levels its because your tank is NOT fully cycled.
 

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