Nitrite Test On Fishless Cycle

[DJC1]

Can someone confirm something for me please.

4ppm of ammonia is clearing in 12 hours, and I am adding this ammount every 12 hours.

When testing the nitrite with an API test kit, the drops go purple in the bottom of the tube, but lighten when shaken.
In the 'fishless cycling' thread, it says if the drops go purple in the bottom of the tube straight away, there is no need to wait for five minutes to test for nitrite as it is off the scale.

Q. Is there no need to wait for the nitrite to show when this happens because it will go dark purple eventually anyway (5ppm), or it is saying that if it goes dark it WILL be off the scale? Because when it is left for a few minutes, the reading is around 0.25/0.50 ppm.

Also, nitrate has not gone above 5ppm accept for when the cycling started - it hasn't gone above 5ppm for nearly a week.

 

[rdd1952]

It is soomething that happens with API nitrite tests. There is a thread out there somewhere that someone had emailed API and they said that it would do that. Most of the time it turns green after 5 to 10 minutes. But it is true that if it turns purple right away, your nitrites are high. Since the nitrate isn't risin, then you don't have any bacteria processing nitrite yet unless you have some type nitrate removal sponge or media in your filter. How long have you been cycling?

 

[**sarahp**]

Have a read of this - you'll see your not the only one to get confused

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=205210&hl=

 

[DJC1]

Have a read of this - you'll see your not the only one to get confused

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=205210&hl=

Brilliant, thanks.

It seems I have the exact same concern that you had.

Ammonia dropping every 12 hours, nitrite going dark purple in the bottom of the tube - been doing that for three or four days.

My only other concern is that the nitrate hasn't been increasing!

Do you remember how long it took for your nitrite levels to drop, and did you have little nitrate present near the beginning of the nitrite spike aswell?

 

[DJC1]

It is soomething that happens with API nitrite tests. There is a thread out there somewhere that someone had emailed API and they said that it would do that. Most of the time it turns green after 5 to 10 minutes. But it is true that if it turns purple right away, your nitrites are high. Since the nitrate isn't risin, then you don't have any bacteria processing nitrite yet unless you have some type nitrate removal sponge or media in your filter. How long have you been cycling?

I don't think I have any nitrate removing 'anything'.

Started cycling nearly three weeks ago, but about four or five days into it I moved the tank so had to empty it.
I then started the cycle off again using Bactinettes. Probably took a week/week and a half, for the ammonia to start clearing in 12 hours, and has been doing so for the past four days'ish.

The only thing which I find a little odd, is that about a week ago the nitrate was (IIRC), around 40ppm, and now it is down to 10ppm, and has been for about four days.
I can't remember if on the high reading I had been shaking the bottles for long enough (if at all), as is meant to be done though. I'm not sure if failing to do this would lead to an artificial high reading?

 

[rdd1952]

Not shaking properly could definitely lead to faulty results as the ingredients in bottle 2 will begin to lump up after a while, thus the reason for shaking. If it isn't properly shaken, then the proper mixture doesn't get into the test.

One thing that could be causing a problem is that, from what I have read, Bactinettes do not contain the proper nitrite oxidizing bacteria so it's possible that the nitrite isn't being processed at all yet. I would suggest doing a major water change of up to 100% so that you can get the nitrite back down near 0 or at least to a measureable amount. Then you will be able to watch as it starts to rise again and will know that it is indeed off the chart high.

 

[DJC1]

Not shaking properly could definitely lead to faulty results as the ingredients in bottle 2 will begin to lump up after a while, thus the reason for shaking. If it isn't properly shaken, then the proper mixture doesn't get into the test.

One thing that could be causing a problem is that, from what I have read, Bactinettes do not contain the proper nitrite oxidizing bacteria so it's possible that the nitrite isn't being processed at all yet. I would suggest doing a major water change of up to 100% so that you can get the nitrite back down near 0 or at least to a measureable amount. Then you will be able to watch as it starts to rise again and will know that it is indeed off the chart high.

I'll do the water change this evening, and then start adding the ammonia 12 hourly again.

If the nitrite does indeed start to rise over the next x days, what will this be proving?

 

[rdd1952]

It will prove that ammonia is indeed being processed into nitrite (which you already know) and that nitrite is indeed off the chart and not in the .25 to .5 range. The key question though is why nitrite isn't being processed into nitrate.

 

[**sarahp**]

Have a read of this - you'll see your not the only one to get confused http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=205210&hl=

Brilliant, thanks. It seems I have the exact same concern that you had. Ammonia dropping every 12 hours, nitrite going dark purple in the bottom of the tube - been doing that for three or four days.My only other concern is that the nitrate hasn't been increasing!Do you remember how long it took for your nitrite levels to drop, and did you have little nitrate present near the beginning of the nitrite spike aswell?

I think the nitrIte levels took about 2 weeks to drop - sorry cant be more specific than that because I didnt write anything down and I've forgotten now!!But just read the rest of the thread - I too used Bactinettes and I'm not sure about it TBH. I *think* it helped with the ammonia bacteria but I also *think* it hindered the nirtIte bacteria. I cant prove it - and I wasnt scientific enough about it - its just a gut feeling but my nitrItes never did go exactly as they should. I had the massive spike like you have now and then it fell away to zero but after that it would never clear from 5ppm ammonia to 0ppm ammonia and nitrtIte in 12 hours like its supposed to. Having said all that - I added my full fish load last weekend (10 days ago) over 3 days and so far so good. Everytime I've tested water (twice a day ) its been exactly as it should (except once after I added live bloodworm but I think they were on the edge of being 'off' because the others that I've bought since didnt stink nearly so bad!!) If I were you I'd follow what rdd has said - do a water change - if nothing else you may find you ph has dropped mine did and a water change will help that along, you cant do any harm doing a water change - as long as you remember to dechlorinate and it'll give you a bit of proctice for when you have to do it for real I developed a good system of water changing whilst cycling (I had to doa few because my ph kept dropping and that slows the bacteria down) so now I can do a 25% change in an hour (my tank is 440 litre though) and all I have to do is sit and watch and make sure the pipes dont fall out!!!One other thing - another member on here 'Behold' had the same weirdy with nitrItes that I had - I wonder if he used bactinettes??? We discovered he lives about 60 miles from me so it may be a tap water thing Are you UK?

The key question though is why nitrite isn't being processed into nitrate.

My nitrAtes didnt raise until the very end of the cycling process - I wonder if its a quirk of Bactinettes because I used them too

 

[Fish2u]

Buy a small bottle of StressZyme and dump the content of entire bottle into your tank & filter and then wait for couple of days and test (do not change water) ... You will be amazed to see the results

 

[rdd1952]

I hate to disagree Fish2u but most everyone's experience with Stress Zyme (or any of the other "bacteria in a bottle" products) is that it is just a waste of money. If you read the label on Stress Zyme closely, it doesn't even claim to contain nitrifying baceria.

From their site: "Stress Zyme is a biological filter additive containing live bacteria that improves the development of the biological filter and helps clean a dirty aquarium. The build-up of organic pollution in the aquarium inhibits the growth of nitrifying bacteria. The bacteria in Stress-Zyme keep conditions in the aquarium right for the development of the biological filter by consuming harmful organic pollutants. This speeds the development of the biological filter in newly set up aquariums."

Basically, it says that organic pollution inhibits growth of the nitrifying bacteria and that the bacteria in the tank consume those pollutants to clean the tank so that the nitrifying bacteria can develop. It mentions nothing about nitrifying bacteria actually being in the bottle.

 

[Fish2u]

I was expecting "I beg to differ" post and that's why I wrote "you will be amazed" I'm not a big believer of bacteria in bottle (you can read my post -experiment with bio-spira which didn't go that well) but I was amazed ....

 

[rdd1952]

I have used Stress Zyme and I was anything but amazed. More like POed that I wasted good money on junk. And I like API products but this one is utterly useless. As I said, they don't even claim that it contains beneficial bacteria.

 

[DJC1]

Before I do a water change, I did one last nitrite test last night, and now after it turns purple, it does go green. So the nitrItes are definately off the chart - nitrAtes are still showing as 10.
Would a 100% water change still be advised (it's only a 65ltr tank, so it's not a huge job)?

 

[rdd1952]

I doubt it would do any good. I'm just not sure why nitrite isn't being processed into nitrate.