Fishless Cycle?

[andrewmartingibson@googlem]

hi everybody big thankyou to all the replies from,cutiosity 101,robbut,and from rdd1952 in mt holly ny u s a still not certiam if should start from sratch?
since last been on the forum l ve purchased a api no2 kit took a reading of 1 or 5ppm not sure color hard to define?looks totally deferant more like papel purple. nitrate still above 110mg/l .read the articule by rdd1952 on fishless cycle pity there is not more people like him around to give sound advise.
but still unsure need the thumbs up guys remember l am newbie still wet behind gills sorry for pun but still willing to learn andy g

 

[Curiosity101]

Your post was very hard to read...

But you have a reading of 1 or 5 ppm for what?

If nitrate is 110ppm then you really do need to do at least 2 x 50% water changes. If you can do them 1 hour apart that would be even better.

Also when you're posting stats could you put them like this...
Ammonia - ...ppm
Nitrite - ...ppm
Nitrate - ...ppm
pH - ...ppm

On top of that, thanks for the mention. Eveyone here is actually really really nice I promise. The only time peeps get annoyed is when people come onto the forum, ask questions and then completely ignore all the advise. You haven't done that, so please don't think people will be horrid.
We're all pussy cats I promise

 

[andrewmartingibson@googlem]

hi curiosty101 thanksagain the readin was fore nitrite 1 or 5ppm not sure becouce of color did 25% water change on friday no change in nirat level wil take advise on last message.

 

[Curiosity101]

Ahh, I thought it may be the nitrite level.

Don't suppose the drops go purple the second they hit the test sample do they?

 

[jmkgreen]

Don't worry about a water change unless your pH level drops significantly, which will happen once the nitrates get high enough to affect things. By doing a water change any ammonia and nitrites will also be proportionally removed, starving the developing bacteria. If you haven't already, set your heater to 29C too, it may help speed things up - just don't forget to drop it once you come to add fish...

 

[andrewmartingibson@googlem]

curiosity101 yes

 

[Curiosity101]

Then you have a nitrite reading that is off the scale. Sorry!

You need to do many water changes to get the readings back to an actually testable level.

OR, dilute each sample of tankwater.
EG. Take a 1ml sample and add 9ml of tap water to it.
Test 5ml of this solution and see if you get a proper reading. If not then take 1ml of this original sample (you should have 5ml leftover that wasn't tested)
And add 9ml to it.
Now test this. Hopefully by now you have a testable level.

Hopefully all of that makes sense. And to make it a little bit more 'english'.
You do the first dilution and the test results will give you a 10% reading of the actual tank level of nitrite.

After you do the second dilution and test the solution you will have a 1% reading of the nitrite level in the tank.

Alternatively you could take a 1ml sample from the tank and mix it with 19ml from a tap and then test 5ml of this. That will then give you a 5% reading of the main tank.