Nitrite In 22 Day Old Cycle?

[lowthy76]

hi all. i have just done a water test on my 22 day old brand new fish tank, now i thought the ammonia spiked first then when that stabalised it was the nitrite, then once that stabilised it was the nitrate?


well the results of my tests were as follows


ammonia 0.00

nitrite just over zero i would say 0.10

nitrate was 10.00

is this normal as i thought the nitrite should be zero by now?

 

[BigbruiserAl]

There will be stages in a cycle when all are going to be high. please read the guide in the resourse centreand it will explain in detail, post back what you dont understand and we can fill you in

 

[lowthy76]

There will be stages in a cycle when all are going to be high. please read the guide in the resourse centreand it will explain in detail, post back what you dont understand and we can fill you in

i have read that but in nearly everything i have read it should be the nitrate that
gets rid of the nitrite right?
well the ammonia is zero and the nitrate is good just the nitrite is slighly off!
im confused as i thought the process went ammonia spiked first then that turns to nitrite then when both are zero the nitrate starts to lower?
well the ammonia and nitrate are perfect, so why is the nitrite just slighly off?

 

[CezzaXV]

Try retesting the nitrite, it may just be a blip. As for nitrate, it will never lower on it's own, you need to do a water change to get rid of nitrate.

 

[lowthy76]

Try retesting the nitrite, it may just be a blip. As for nitrate, it will never lower on it's own, you need to do a water change to get rid of nitrate.

when should i do that as i only tested it this morning?
and once all readings are perfect is it just a case of regular water changes to keep everything stable?

 

[CezzaXV]

Indeed. Alot of fishkeepers like to keep testig regularly just to make sure everything's ticking over okay, then weekly water changes to keep nitrate at a reasonable level and remove the worst of the waste. Nitrate will never be perfect, but as long as you keep it low your fish will be fine.

 

[lowthy76]

Indeed. Alot of fishkeepers like to keep testig regularly just to make sure everything's ticking over okay, then weekly water changes to keep nitrate at a reasonable level and remove the worst of the waste. Nitrate will never be perfect, but as long as you keep it low your fish will be fine.

thankyou, so in your opinion how long do you think it will be till the nitrite reading is zero?

 

[CezzaXV]

Hopefully not long at all if the bacteria are established.

You'll know when your tank is ready for fish when you can add 4ppm of ammonia to your tank and there be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite twelve hours later, and you can keep doing this for a week. It's not only about being able to process it, it's how long it takes to do it.

 

[lowthy76]

Hopefully not long at all if the bacteria are established.

You'll know when your tank is ready for fish when you can add 4ppm of ammonia to your tank and there be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite twelve hours later, and you can keep doing this for a week. It's not only about being able to process it, it's how long it takes to do it.

ok silly question, but why would you add ammonia to a tank?

 

[CezzaXV]

Are you doing your cycle fish in, or fishless? Apologies, I just assumed.

 

[lowthy76]

Are you doing your cycle fish in, or fishless? Apologies, I just assumed.

fish in cycle and before you ask they are all doing great very healthy and showing no signs of stress lol

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

Hopefully not long at all if the bacteria are established.

You'll know when your tank is ready for fish when you can add 4ppm of ammonia to your tank and there be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite twelve hours later, and you can keep doing this for a week. It's not only about being able to process it, it's how long it takes to do it.

ok silly question, but why would you add ammonia to a tank?

This is "fishless cycling" in action. You add a known concentration of ammonia to your tank and then test for when the ammonia processing and later nitrite processing bacteria have began to colonise your dechlorinated water.

You could add bits of fish food instead, but this method will take longer and is less precise in knowing how strong your bacteria colonies are.

Are you doing your cycle fish in, or fishless? Apologies, I just assumed.

fish in cycle and before you ask they are all doing great very healthy and showing no signs of stress lol

So with fish in an uncycled tank, your test results show you are not changing enough water i.e. a trace of nitrite. This toxin has short and long term ramifications for your fish i.e. shortening their lives, even if the levels do not kill them outright.

 

[lowthy76]

Hopefully not long at all if the bacteria are established.

You'll know when your tank is ready for fish when you can add 4ppm of ammonia to your tank and there be 0 ammonia and 0 nitrite twelve hours later, and you can keep doing this for a week. It's not only about being able to process it, it's how long it takes to do it.

ok silly question, but why would you add ammonia to a tank?

This is "fishless cycling" in action. You add a known concentration of ammonia to your tank and then test for when the ammonia processing and later nitrite processing bacteria have began to colonise your dechlorinated water.

You could add bits of fish food instead, but this method will take longer and is less precise in knowing how strong your bacteria colonies are.

Are you doing your cycle fish in, or fishless? Apologies, I just assumed.

fish in cycle and before you ask they are all doing great very healthy and showing no signs of stress lol

So with fish in an uncycled tank, your test results show you are not changing enough water i.e. a trace of nitrite. This toxin has short and long term ramifications for your fish i.e. shortening their lives, even if the levels do not kill them outright.

i was told by 2 guys in my local maidenhead aquatics to leave the water for at least 2 weeks since thats how the levels get lower, and by doing regular water changes to a cycle you are taking out beneficial things? they were very adamant on the subject and said that they were both right, and they were very convincing lol

 

[CezzaXV]

All the beneficial stuff is in the filter. There may be a small amount in the filter but in a water change you're removing far more bad stuff than good.

In a fish in cycle, you need to do VERY frequent water changes (once a day at least) to remove any ammonia or nitrite in the water until the bacteria have developed enough to do it for you. After that, you still need to do weekly water changes to remove nitrate and waste materials.

 

[lowthy76]

All the beneficial stuff is in the filter. There may be a small amount in the filter but in a water change you're removing far more bad stuff than good.

In a fish in cycle, you need to do VERY frequent water changes (once a day at least) to remove any ammonia or nitrite in the water until the bacteria have developed enough to do it for you. After that, you still need to do weekly water changes to remove nitrate and waste materials.

ok thankyou, but my readings from the water test i did this morning, do you think i am far off?