0 Amonia, But 0.3 Nitrite?

[Jeff000]

Just tested my water at lunch here (making sure a few kuhli loaches will be ok after work) and I got 0 amonia, but 0.3 - 0.4 Nitrite

I usually link nitrites to amonia, but with 0 amonia (tested twice) I dont get it. Will I be safe getting a couple kuhli loaches?

 

[WILDER]

No as you have a nitrite reading meaning the tank isn't cycled, and adding the fish will make it worse as the bacteria colony won't cope with them.

 

[Jeff000]

It used to be at 0, the tank had cycled, and meds 3 weeks back put it into a mini cycle. but it had been back at 0.

how long should this take? this mini cycle is worse then my first one.

 

[WILDER]

Not long, but it will be worse if you add any new fish till the bacteria colony can cope with them, just have to be patient.

 

[Wanda hornsey]

PLEASE DONT ADD FISH...I had fish in my tank this week and it mini cycled and a lot of them died

Please just wait a few more days

 

[pokagon55]

Good advise by Wilder...just would like add that it might help if you used stability or bio-spira in tank to help it along. Just a thought.

 

[steelhealr]

There are two basic processes here. Ammonia is converted to nitrite. Nitrite is converted to nitrate. The two bacteria involved are nitrobacter and nitrosamonas.

The absence of ammonia and presence of nitrite implies that the first pathway of cycling is funcitioning. The secondary pathway is not, hence, more time is needed to breakdown nitrite to nitrate.

I agree with the above advice...hold off on adding any livestock until the nitrite disappears and nitrate reappears. SH

 

[Jeff000]

There are two basic processes here. Ammonia is converted to nitrite. Nitrite is converted to nitrate. The two bacteria involved are nitrobacter and nitrosamonas.

The absence of ammonia and presence of nitrite implies that the first pathway of cycling is funcitioning. The secondary pathway is not, hence, more time is needed to breakdown nitrite to nitrate.

I agree with the above advice...hold off on adding any livestock until the nitrite disappears and nitrate reappears. SH

Thanks

I will wait till its at 0 to add, this morning it was .3 maybe a hair less. so by monday I should be good to go.

 

[Bignose]

There are two basic processes here. Ammonia is converted to nitrite. Nitrite is converted to nitrate. The two bacteria involved are nitrobacter and nitrosamonas.

I wrote this about a month and a half ago:

These are the species identified in a lot of older literature, newer research indicates that is it probably Nitrospira spp that is the main nitrite to nitrate oxidizer. I am pretty sure that different ammonia oxidizers are suspected as well, like Nitrosospira as well as -somonas. It seems to depend upon the ammonia concentration in this case, with one species being dominant at the beginning (high ammonia) an another taking over when the ammonia levels are low. See Hovanec et al., Applied and Environmental Biology, vol 64, p258-264, 1998 for info on the -spira. See Burell et al., Applied and Environmental Biology, vol 67, p5791-5800, 2001 for info on the -sospira.

Not coincidentally, this is why marlineland labs' bacteria-starter product is called bio-spira.

SH's advice was spot on, just different species of bacteria have been identified in the modern literature.