Ammonia Nitrate Nitrite

[f111shy]

hey guys theres some bits really confusing me at the moment, ive heard people say that ammonia goes to nitrate then nitrite, and others said its ammonia to nitrite to nitrate. this is confusing when im trying to find out how my tank cycle is going
please someone inform me of the correct cycle.

Karl.

 

[CezzaXV]

Ammonia turns to nitrite turns to nitrate. Nothing will process the nitrate so you deal with that with water changes.

 

[f111shy]

ah thanks for clearing that up with me but one thing is that i have had no traces nitrite in the tank since starting cycling it has just gone straight to 80 ppm nitrate ? how can this be ?

Day 3 liquid test kit:
Ammonia- 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 80 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Ph - 7.8
heres my results for day three and this is also why i thought it went from nitates to nitrites

Karl.

 

[CezzaXV]

Have you been using any mature media in your tank? (i.e. media from someone else's already established filter). This is the only reason I can think there'd be for the quick results, assuming the test results are correct. What kind of test kit are you using? Also, have you tested your tap water?

 

[f111shy]

yerh i have tested my tap water and i am using a very small section of mature filter media but due to the complete absense of nitrite i dont believe it has cycled. and i am using the master test kit by API so should be pretty accurate tbh

Karl.

Day 3 liquid test kit:
Ammonia- 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 80 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
Ph - 7.8


heres my results from yesterday

Day 4 - liquid test: added 2ml of ammonia
Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
Nitrate - 80 ppm
Nitrite - 0 ppm
PH - 7.8

(above is todays test

Karl.

 

[CezzaXV]

True, the API test kit should be accurate (some of the die hard scientists here will tell you otherwise, but it's perfectly accurate enough for our purposes).

Are you dosing 4ppm of ammonia? How much nitrate (if any) was in your tap water? I'd advise dosing ammonia as normal and testing after 12 hours. You say you took a small bit of mature media but it may have been enough to have you cycled.

 

[f111shy]

there was no readable nitrates in the water straight from the tap, i also have plants from an established aquarium aswell. yes well i started off by adding the mature media and plants etc after this i tested for ammonia and it was at 0.25 ppm. the nitrate was at 40 ppm and nitrite was non existant. just topped up the ammonia today waiting to re - test for accurate amount of ammonia should be 4ppm or just under. i test every day at the same time so surely i cant have missed the nitrites part of the cycle?

Karl.

 

[CezzaXV]

In a fully cycled tank, the ammonia and resulting nitrite should go down to 0 in 12 hours. Your ammonia isn't going down to 0 in 24 hours, so you're not cycled yet. It's possible that the nitrite is being processed as it's produced though, or at least in less than 24 hours. I'd recommend testing at 12 hour periods rather than 24 and seeing what your readings are like then.

Plants will eat ammonia too, but you'd have to be pretty heavily planted for it to make that much of a difference to your cycle. I'd recommend removing the plants though if you can.

 

[f111shy]

I will try to put them somewhere else but this is my only tank at the moment i am currently at 4.0 ppm after adding another dose this evening two hours ago. i will re test tomorrow at eight in morning and evening and i will repost the results for you to guide me with cheers for helping cezza, newbies like me need all the help we can get to get the best we can out of our tanks

Karl.

 

[CezzaXV]

The plants will probably be okay in a bucket, perhaps with an airstone in in a bright place. It's not 100% necessary, but some plants don't do so well with higher concentrations of ammonia and it'll make sure your test results are truly objective (as the bacteria will be the only things there to eat the ammonia and nitrite).

No worries, it's a big daunting thing when you're a beginner but it's easy when you know what you're doing

 

[f111shy]

Lol, cheers, but surely if i take the plants out the bacs that have grown on them will be removed aswell ? prolonging the cycle ? correct me if im wrong :L

Karl.

 

[CezzaXV]

99% of the bacteria will be growing inside your filter. The amount that will be growing on your plants, if any, will be negligible. It's unlikely there's any growing on your plants, and if there are there's nowhere near enough for it to make a difference to your cycle.

 

[f111shy]

ok brill and will it just be dechlorinated water? or do i need to drain some out of the tank their in?

Karl.

 

[CezzaXV]

Dechlorinated water from the tap will be fine

 

[f111shy]

nice i just really wanna get to the bottom of whats happening to this tank tbh :L

Karl.