So What Exactly Is My Nitrite Level?

[Aussie_Dog]

I'm at the point now where one of my tanks (the little 3gal that I got on sale) is processing 4-5ppm of Ammonia to zero in 12 hours or less, but the Nitrite levels have me confused. I've read that when the color turns purple immediately at the bottom of the tube, don't shake it, as the color will turn green. Well, I've shaken it anyways ("I wanna see this green!") and it never turns green, just stays dark purple. Now, though, it doesn't stay purple. I swear, the color lightens until it's a shade of grey. Well, initially it turned a sort of light purple (0.50) so I figured Nitrite was going down, but then it started turning grey ("Okay, just a shade below light purple... Right?..."). Today, it went further down and I was thinking it'd go to blue, but it hovered at a sort of blueish-green. Does this mean the Nitrite is going DOWN and thus my cycle will be completed soon, or is it the opposite: the levels are off the chart and are giving funny colors to show it?

I should probably add that Nitrate hasn't gone off the charts yet. It seems to be somewhere between 20-50 (I couldn't swear on it, as the colors are hard to pick out on the card, but it's more orange than it is red). If that gives a hint to the Nitrite colors...

 

[littlest]

What brand of test are you using?
My only experience is with API but turning pale green or grey can indicate nitrite being off the chart (too high for the test to measure). If the nitrite was zero it would show the nice pale blue colour, not a washed-out grey.
If your nitrates are going up it does show that you are processing some nitrites though, they are just still very high.

 

[Aussie_Dog]

What brand of test are you using?
My only experience is with API but turning pale green or grey can indicate nitrite being off the chart (too high for the test to measure). If the nitrite was zero it would show the nice pale blue colour, not a washed-out grey.
If your nitrates are going up it does show that you are processing some nitrites though, they are just still very high.

Yeah, I'm using the API test kits. I think I got ahead of myself when I first saw the color going down, thinking my cycle was nearing completion, but now I know there's still a bit more time to go. I should have known the level wouldn't have gone from 5+ to 0.50 in 12 hours, lol

 

[rdd1952]

The API kits will turn odd colors when the nitrite is extremely high. It may be green, white or gray. You actually get the information you need as soon as you add the drops. When the nitrite is peaking, most likely, the drops will turn purple in the bottom of the tube as soon as you put them in. If that is the case, you really don't even need to shake them up. You already know the nitrite is still there.