Nitrates

[Zachary1941]

Hi Ya,
Think im well on my way to cycling the tank.. Ammonia is being processed from 4 each day to 0 in about 14 hours..Nitrites have been off the chart now for over 12 days...But NITRATES seem to be playing games ..It goes from about 5 up to 15 then back to 5 .. has been doing this for 2 weeks now..However this morning before adding Ammonia took a NITRATE reading and it was 40 thought great at last we moving...As a matter of interest took another reading 2 hours after addinng Ammonia and its back down to 5 again.. Is this anything to be concerned about these strange NIRATE readings (Fishless cycle by the way now in its 38 th day) Regards Zac

 

[Dogson]

Mines the same? I had a nitrate spike of around 20 about 5 days ago and now it seems to sit at 5 yet nitrites still off the chart and getting my algae bloom so will be watching this thread with interest. I think we're both nearly there it's just agonising.

 

[Zachary1941]

Mines the same? I had a nitrate spike of around 20 about 5 days ago and now it seems to sit at 5 yet nitrites still off the chart and getting my algae bloom so will be watching this thread with interest. I think we're both nearly there it's just agonising.

Hi Dogson,
No disrespect but its great to know someone else has the same problem.. Like you will be interested to see if all is well.. Im getting what i would call Mini Blooms, water goes cloudy for about 2 hours after adding ammonia then clears up nicely Good Luck Regards Zac

 

[Dogson]

I'm fortunate in that I don't get the cloudy water as in your case( will it go cloudy when the fish start excreting )

 

[Zachary1941]

I'm fortunate in that I don't get the cloudy water as in your case( will it go cloudy when the fish start excreting )

Hopefully we are nearing the end.. ..provided this nitrate readings are nothing to worry about .. everything else has gone according to the book so to speak Zac

 

[Dogson]

Agreed, Just need to get the nitrite spike down and we're good to go! the longer it takes the bank balance decreases and prolongs the wait to start stocking! i've just posted a thread on the tropical discussion with a pic of my tank requesting stocking ideas if you fancy a look!

Dogson

 

[Zachary1941]

Agreed, Just need to get the nitrite spike down and we're good to go! the longer it takes the bank balance decreases and prolongs the wait to start stocking! i've just posted a thread on the tropical discussion with a pic of my tank requesting stocking ideas if you fancy a look!

Dogson

Great tank Looks good.. I have the Jewell 125 with internal filter.....have just the gravel in mine at the moment the fake plants were getting brown algae on em.. so removed em a few weeks ago.. Might put real plants in, dont know yet. But like you am now researching fish ideas.. More inclined to go for wee schooling fish with maybe one or two centre fish.. Decisions Decisions lol Regards Zac (Nice tank Dogson well done)

 

[Dogson]

Same here with the small schooling fish I can't be bothered with largish docile centre pieces yet. thanks on the compliment my plants to are getting covered in algae but thats down to the cyle it will clear up after a water change.

 

[Dogson]

Bump! Can anyone put our minds at ease?

 

[youngfisher]

Have you tried doing a large 70/90% w/c?

 

[Dogson]

I thought that was supposed to be done after all the nitrites and ammonia got down to 0? If not i'll gladly change it tonight

 

[Zachary1941]

I thought that was supposed to be done after all the nitrites and ammonia got down to 0? If not i'll gladly change it tonight

Yes.. Thats what i was led to believe..But will also do a water change tomorrow if needed..Maybe a few others might chip in with other ideas ? Would prefer to leave a water change till Ammonia and Nitrites are both at zero for 7 days...Regards Zac

 

[Dogson]

??? I'm unsure what to do now to water change or not to water change?

 

[Zachary1941]

??? I'm unsure what to do now to water change or not to water change?

Well as its been like it now for more than a few days will wait and see if anyone suggests something other than a water change.. will certainly do it if as YoungFisher has suggested might solve the problem . Regards Zac

 

[waterdrop]

Liquid kit Nitrate(NO3) tests (most of them) also measure nitrite(NO2) to some extent, therefor they are more accurate at showing you nitrate(NO3) *after* the filter has cycled and you are getting readings of zero for nitrite(NO2.) What this means is that trying to interpret the nitrate readings during the second phase ("nitrite spike") of fishless can be confusing at the least. Even though the nitrite(NO2) appears spiked to you (because of the ceiling of the nitrite test), in actuality its bouncing around out at higher numbers and the nitrate(NO3) test will be bounced by this, thus the back and forth numbers.

OK, so what to do? Pay attention just to your ammonia, nitrite(NO2), pH and your timings, those are the important indicators of fishless cycling progress and conditions. In fishless cycling its always ideal to be able to "just leave it" as far as water changes go, but during the "nitrite spike" phase and beyond, its not necessarily a setback to do the occasional water change. What you do in this case is a large (90%, as of course small water changes have "no meaning" during fishless) gravel-clean-water-change and then recharge with ammonia (and baking soda if you happen to be having to use that.) Sometimes we refer to this as a "kickstart" for the people who have low KH/pH. What it also accomplishes is to make the nitrate(NO3) measurements more accurate for a while.

~~waterdrop~~