Right..that's It..don't Think I'm Cut Out For This :(

[Cheffi]

Have posted last couple of days about strange colour readings for nitrIte on my API kit during fishless cycle. Still waiting for reply from them.

I stopped testing my nitrAtes as they were off the chart and didn't seem much point as they wouldn't come down until I did a water change at end of cycle. Today I thought I'd test everything again.....and the nitrAtes have disappeared down to 5ppm. Where the hell did they go I don't think I should keep fish if I can't even get the cycling right

 

[jarmado]

Have posted last couple of days about strange colour readings for nitrIte on my API kit during fishless cycle. Still waiting for reply from them.

I stopped testing my nitrAtes as they were off the chart and didn't seem much point as they wouldn't come down until I did a water change at end of cycle. Today I thought I'd test everything again.....and the nitrAtes have disappeared down to 5ppm. Where the hell did they go I don't think I should keep fish if I can't even get the cycling right

what about your ammonia and nitrite readings?

 

[rfisher]

Have posted last couple of days about strange colour readings for nitrIte on my API kit during fishless cycle. Still waiting for reply from them.

I stopped testing my nitrAtes as they were off the chart and didn't seem much point as they wouldn't come down until I did a water change at end of cycle. Today I thought I'd test everything again.....and the nitrAtes have disappeared down to 5ppm. Where the hell did they go I don't think I should keep fish if I can't even get the cycling right

Cheffi,

Stick with it mate, I have had a good few problems and felt the same way, but slowly and surely things are beginning to work out, although I did lose one of my danios last night. It is very frustrating at times but it will work out.

Good Luck,

Rich

 

[Ginge]

"The nitrite spike will generally take about twice as long to drop to zero as did the ammonia spike. The reason for this is two-fold. First, the nitrite processing bacteria just develop slower than those that process ammonia. Second, you are adding more nitrite daily (every time you add ammonia, it is transformed into nitrite raising the level a little more) as opposed to the ammonia, which you only add once at the start and then waited on it to drop to zero. During this time, you should occasionally test for nitrate too. The presence of nitrate means that nitrite is being processed, completing the nitrogen cycle. The nitrate level will also go off the chart but you will take care of that with a large water change later. It will seem like forever before the nitrite finally falls back to zero but eventually, almost overnight, it will drop and you can celebrate."

So basically your nitrAtes were off the scale and were dealt with, with the water change this is correct. And your niteItes are 0 then your fishless cycle is 100% done

 

[Cheffi]

Ginge I understand all that you've written but the point is....I haven't done a water change yet cause I was going to do that on friday before I picked fish up. That's the point the nitrates were there and now they aren't, I've done no water change so where are they? Sorry if you read my post as I HAD done water change but I meant I knew they'd come down WHEN I did one.

 

[jarmado]

Ginge I understand all that you've written but the point is....I haven't done a water change yet cause I was going to do that on friday before I picked fish up. That's the point the nitrates were there and now they aren't, I've done no water change so where are they? Sorry if you read my post as I HAD done water change but I meant I knew they'd come down WHEN I did one.

any live plants in the tank?

 

[Cheffi]

No it will be a Malawi tank just rocks and sand. My ammonia has been 0ppm in 12hrs for ages and my nitrites dropped a while back but if you had read my other post instead of the skyblue reading I'm getting very pale grey/green/blue. Waiting for API rep to get back to me as my lfs guy said he'd never seen it before although someone else on this forum had it happen to them.
I stopped testing for nitrAtes when my nitrItes dropped as they were off the scale and I knew they wouldn't come down until I'd done a water change at end of cycle as I have no plants. Hence first post, where have they gone?

 

[Ginge]

Well that is strange then i did read it wrong. I think we need a cycling expert in this thread.

 

[dwarfgourami]

Ginge I understand all that you've written but the point is....I haven't done a water change yet cause I was going to do that on friday before I picked fish up. That's the point the nitrates were there and now they aren't, I've done no water change so where are they? Sorry if you read my post as I HAD done water change but I meant I knew they'd come down WHEN I did one.

This is strange, but your not the only one suffering from MYSTERIOUSLY DISAPPEARING NITRATES. I had exactly the same when I cycled my tank last weelk- and we've had at least two more posts like it on the forum within the last week or so!!! And none of these cases involved platned tanks. It shouldn't happen, but it evidently does. My theory is that all these nitrates have suddenly found their way through a black hole back to Planet Nitrate.

Anyway, I assumed that when the nitrites went away, my tank was cycled, so did a big water change anyway (despite absence of nitrates) and introduced fish last Saturday. They seem fine, so assume that was ok.

 

[andywg]

Most likely reason for me is a duff nitrates reading. I have had them read 100ppm on RO water when first opened. Hardly pin point accuracy.

On top of this they all have a best before date, and will last little longer than 6 months as anything like accurate (assuming they were to start with...).

 

[Ginge]

Most likely reason for me is a duff nitrates reading. I have had them read 100ppm on RO water when first opened. Hardly pin point accuracy.

On top of this they all have a best before date, and will last little longer than 6 months as anything like accurate (assuming they were to start with...).

So you are saying her cycle is done and she is ready to have fish???

 

[dwarfgourami]

Most likely reason for me is a duff nitrates reading. I have had them read 100ppm on RO water when first opened. Hardly pin point accuracy.

On top of this they all have a best before date, and will last little longer than 6 months as anything like accurate (assuming they were to start with...).

As I explained in my other thread, I was using the API liquid master test kit, which showed top readings for nitrates one day and went down to 5 ppm the next- would it have gone off that quickly?

 

[andywg]

I used a brand new API test kit straight out of the bottle and it read 100ppm on RO water (which we all know is 0ppm, and the TDS meter proved this).

Previously I have taken two samples of the same tank and used API tests. One gave 0ppm, the other 160ppm. Not so much they go off quickly, they just seem to be inherently unreliable...

If you have seen the ammonia go up then down, and then seen the nitrites go up and then down, I would say water change and put some fish in, bu I have never fishless cycled, so I am not a goo dguide, I fish cycled one tank, then cloned the rest.

 

[Cheffi]

So is there such a thing as a 100% reliable test kit however it comes?

 

[mark.w.jones]

So is there such a thing as a 100% reliable test kit however it comes?

The API nitrate test does seem to be the more tricky out of all of them to do. There is lots of shake for a minute, add drops, shake again, leave for 5 minutes. It seems more difficult to carry out than the other tests and I would guess that it is probably inaccurate carrying out of the test that causes false readings. If it says shake hard for 1 minute then doing it for 50 seconds is actually not good enough. If it says leave for 5 minutes then 4 minutes 30 seconds is not enough etc. etc. When you are talking such tiny amounts of substances it doesn't take much to completely skew results. Of course you could have a duff test kit, I'm not doubting that but there are many other factors to consider eliminating before you chuck your test away.