sooooo confused

[leah9798]

Well, I ve had my tank for a month now. I didn't cycle it before putting fish in it. Last week had some nitrates and nitrites in water but no ammonia, this week was testing that i had ammonia but no nitrates or nitrites. I decided to try biospira and now I'm really confused because I still have some ammonia under .25 and at home my nitrates are coming up 0. I took my water to the lfs , they tested it using the dip kind I use AP and was told my nitrates were 40. I couldn't believe it I just tested my water that morning it was 0 , so when I got home I tested it again thinking maybe I had a spike nope 0 again. How could it test 40 there?So went and bought a nitrite test(very hard to find) yep 0. So, could my tank be cycled evn though there is a small amount of ammonia in there? or maybe it hasnt even started yet? I just added the biospira last night so I don't want to do a a water change.

 

[pondfreak4365]

I think Bio Spira will cause a false positive reading if your test uses a Nessler reagent. I use Bio Safe, and had to find a ammo test that uses a salycilate reagent, which only measure unbound ammonia. Look carefully at the Bio Spira label and see if this is the case.

 

[Alien Anna]

If your tank has got plants or if you've used zeolite or any other "ammonia locking" things in your tank it was probably that the ammonia being produced was being used up. This state of affairs continued until the ammonia "over shot" the plants/chemicals ability to cope and you got a sudden ammonia spike.

Still its good news that the nitrate's beginning to appear and your nitrite levels seem OK.

 

[leah9798]

Hi! I do use salycilate test by AP. My ammonia has stayed the same for a week now, but all last week i had no ammonia and nitrates and nitrites. I added prime when I did my PWC last week. So, I guess now I'm wondering does Prime kill good bacteria? I've either gone forward or moved back and I'm a little confused as to which. Anna I was so excited to see that my nitrates were 40 at the store but every test I've done at home has showed 0. They do use a different test but thats a big difference!! Thanks !

 

[bgraber]

Ask them what kind of test kit they use.. Maybe take a sample of your water in With your test kit and compare readings. I just bought the test kit that the store uses.. no?

 

[Kissifish]

I had the same problem when I cycled with BioSpira. Since it is live bacteria cultures it shouldn't show a chemical change, supposedly. But, I kept getting 10ppm Nitrates when the cycle wasn't even complete.

Come to find out, my tap water has 10 ppm Nitrates in it already. So, check yours. Also, I never did show any Nitrites whatsoever..........Go figure!

But, the BioSpira did help jumpstart my tank and it cycled in 3 weeks. This was in an emergency situation with fish in the tank. I had to treat with antibiotics (due to contaminated fish which I did not quarantine long enough) and wiped out the bacteria population.

I found out later that you shouldn't do a water change for about a week when you use BioSpira. My ammonia finally got to 2 and stayed there for 4 days, while I sweated. But, the fish made it through with no problems. (I had angelfish, and you know how they like clean water.)

You really have to monitor your water and watch your fish for stress.

 

[Kissifish]

I had the same problem when I cycled with BioSpira. Since it is live bacteria cultures it shouldn't show a chemical change, supposedly. But, I kept getting 10ppm Nitrates when the cycle wasn't even complete.

Come to find out, my tap water has 10 ppm Nitrates in it already. So, check yours. Also, I never did show any Nitrites whatsoever..........Go figure!

But, the BioSpira did help jumpstart my tank and it cycled in 3 weeks. This was in an emergency situation with fish in the tank. I had to treat with antibiotics (due to contaminated fish which I did not quarantine long enough) and wiped out the bacteria population.

I found out later that you shouldn't do a water change for about a week when you use BioSpira. My ammonia finally got to 2 and stayed there for 4 days, while I sweated. But, the fish made it through with no problems. (I had angelfish, and you know how they like clean water.)

You really have to monitor your water and watch your fish for stress. From experience, I kept a chart so I could see when things began to change.