Please Help Im Confused?

[bubble87]

i started cycling my 240 litre tank 6 days ago.it has stayed at 4ppm the whole time.i have just tested the water for the first time today and its still at 4ppm but there are nitrites showing at 0.50ppm??? i havent added anymore ammonia jut the once when i started.

why are nitrites showing so early after only 6 days??? im not sure whats going on?? has the cycle crashed?

ive always used mature media to cycle tanks so this is the first time i have used pure ammonia

 

[ProjectMayhem]

Is this a new filtration system or an old one?

 

[bubble87]

its new

 

[bubble87]

the ammonia reading has stayed at 4ppm for the last 6 days.should i still be adding ammonia everyday although the reading is still at 4ppm??i though you only added ammonia when it dropped so you boost it back up to 4ppm? am i doing things right?
i have read to keep the ammonia at 4ppm which is what its at.so by adding more everyday it will raise it to higher than 4ppm surely???

 

[the_lock_man]

If my understanding is correct, ammonia is converted into nitrite at a rate of approx 1 unit NH3 to 2.7 units NO2.

Therefore, 0.5ppm of nitrite would have been converted from something around 0.19ppm ammonia. So whilst you may think you have 4ppm ammonia, you may only have 3.81ppm - and I don't think my test kit can easily distinguish between those two levels of concentration.

That's if my understanding is correct, hopefully some brainbox like Waterdrop will be along in a minute to confirm or deny!

 

[bubble87]

so if it takes 10ml of ammonia to bring it to 4ppm should i be adding 10ml everyday?

 

[the_lock_man]

so if it takes 10ml of ammonia to bring it to 4ppm should i be adding 10ml everyday?

Assuming you are using the "Add & Wait" method, then no, you wait until ammonia drops to 0-1ppm, and then redose. If my supposition is right, then next time you test, you should see an increase in nitrite, and hopefully start to see a decrease in ammonia.

Read this

It just sounds like the very start of the process.

 

[bubble87]

this is the exact method im using.but why do i have nitrite readings so early?

 

[coldcazzie]

Maybe you're just lucky bubble!

Or it might be a fluke reading, sometimes you get a reading of 0.25, but then it goes back to 0 for another week. Try not to worry about it and test again tomorrow as usual. And don't add any more ammonia no - you're right that if you add more you will take it above 4ppm

 

[the_lock_man]

I don't think that's particularly early to get a small nitrite reading.

If you read that link, it says that it takes about a week for that first 4ppm ammonia to be processed into nitrite. THis isn't an instantaneous thing, it's not one minute 4ppm, next 0pmm. It takes a while for the bacteria to eat their way through the available ammonia.

However, as they start to do so, they produce some nitrite. Like I said, the amount of ammonia processed to give 0.5ppm nitrite is less than 0.2ppm. So it would probably look like your filter had not processed any ammonia, when in fact it had actually processed a small amount.

 

[coldcazzie]

I don't think that's particularly early to get a small nitrite reading.

If you read that link, it says that it takes about a week for that first 4ppm ammonia to be processed into nitrite. THis isn't an instantaneous thing, it's not one minute 4ppm, next 0pmm. It takes a while for the bacteria to eat their way through the available ammonia.

However, as they start to do so, they produce some nitrite. Like I said, the amount of ammonia processed to give 0.5ppm nitrite is less than 0.2ppm. So it would probably look like your filter had not processed any ammonia, when in fact it had actually processed a small amount.

Agreed. The only thing you can do is wait and see what happens

 

[KittyKat]

Unless you're using a digital, calibrated device for testing ammonia, you're probably just not reading the 0.2 ppm change in ammonia which has given you nitrite. I'm having same sort of difficulty in reading results in my current cycle as well. I also got nitrite and nitrate by day 5, with new equipment.

 

[Wigster]

Seems normal to me, strangely enough you and I are on the same cycle, I started about 7 days ago, and have also found nitrite appearing with no noticeable drop in ammonia. See my log here: http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/367500-wigsters-tank-journal-cycling/