Cycling Confustion... Advise Please

[stacey3272]

Ok I am in week 6 I think. I have been doing great. last week my nitrites have been running .50 or so ammonia is run thru in 12 or less..... On Sat I had 0 nitrites woohoo right. well I did a water change to get the nitrates down and BOOM the nitrites went off the charts....



So whats up with that. Now since Sat the Nitrites have been off charts. ...Is this going to happen every time I get to 0 and do a water change to get ready for fish ... I feel I will never know when its time. so if this happens again get to 0 and get a water change in and nitrites spike again. what should I do... I do have a trace of nitrites in my tap water. so I nkow that makes a differrence.....I am dong the waiting game I understand that. But this kinda through me through a loop and makes me wonder if I get the nitrites back down is this going to hapen again.



Thanks

 

[OldMan47]

I am going to suggest a huge water change, like 90% or more. What you may have interpreted as a zero nitrite could have been an extreme off-scale reading. The nitrite test result color can and does fool lots of people when it is way out of whack. Unfortunately the color when the test is totally overwhelmed can look a lot like a zero.

 

[stacey3272]

I am going to suggest a huge water change, like 90% or more. What you may have interpreted as a zero nitrite could have been an extreme off-scale reading. The nitrite test result color can and does fool lots of people when it is way out of whack. Unfortunately the color when the test is totally overwhelmed can look a lot like a zero.

Well I did do a huge water change on sat and the test had been holding steady for a week at .50 is or so . SO I can not see how it could have gotten worse. It got worse when I did the water change ? I hav eno problem doing a huge one again. I thought a water change only help Nitrates . Big water changes also help Nitrites to .. Thank you for responding and giving info .

 

[CezzaXV]

You did use dechlor when you did the water change, right? Might sound silly but it's sometimes the obvious things that you miss.

 

[stacey3272]

You did use dechlor when you did the water change, right? Might sound silly but it's sometimes the obvious things that you miss.

yes I did I woner if I put enough in the buckets . Maybe my measuring was off. I will check out the sie and make sure I was adding enough . I know any thoughts are always welcome.

 

[OldMan47]

Dechlorinator use is an inaccurate thing. All dechlorinators always assume some particular value of chlorine. It may or may not match the actual value in your tap water. I use a dose that is 1.5 times the recommended dose. Since dechlorinators are safe to use at about 2 times the recommended dose on a tank going though a cycle, a slight overdose is a bit of cheap insurance in my mind.