What The Heck?

[LionessN3cubs]

how in the world can I have a 5+ nitrate reading when my ammonia hasn't dropped at ALL and I have ZERO nitrites? I tested the water I used for last change (tap and spring both) and they both have 0 nitrates as well confused! There is no dispute about the color chart either. My tap water is DEFINATELY yellow and the tank is DEFINATELY orangish..noticably different.

EDIT: This weekend I went to the LFS and got some of their gravel to add to my tank in hopes of getting a bacterial boost. There was maybe a 1/2 cup of water in the bag to keep the rocks wet...I wonder if that 1/2 cup of their water was enough to raise my nitrates 5+?

 

[backtotropical]

Its possible the water from the shop could have raised your nitrate.

Also, nitrate test kits are notoriously unreliable and for the sake of 5ppm, i would just ignore it personally.

Cheers

BTT

 

[waterdrop]

As BTT says, just ignore it!

Remember, you are dealing with microbes - they are extremely tiny. Right from the get-go you are probably going to have a few early-bird nitrite-oxidizing-bacterial-cells settling down in your filter and processing a tiny bit of the nitrites they find into nitrates (There grinnin at ya! ) so little whiffs of nitrates will start to appear. Anything wet from mature tanks will also bring in a little bit, like those rocks you mention.

Its not bad to carefully keep all your daily data logged nicely but remember the key goals: You want 4ppm of ammonia to drop to zero in under 10 hours since it was put in. At some point separate from that, you want to see a spike of 4 or 5 for nitrite. Then much later, while your ammonia is still dropping each day, you want the final goal that nitrite drops from somewhere high (like 4 or 5) down to zero in under 10 hours.

Those are the goals to focus on. You know nitrates will be there but their measurement doesn't figure in to the goals.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[LionessN3cubs]

As BTT says, just ignore it!

Remember, you are dealing with microbes - they are extremely tiny. Right from the get-go you are probably going to have a few early-bird nitrite-oxidizing-bacterial-cells settling down in your filter and processing a tiny bit of the nitrites they find into nitrates (There grinnin at ya! ) so little whiffs of nitrates will start to appear. Anything wet from mature tanks will also bring in a little bit, like those rocks you mention.

Its not bad to carefully keep all your daily data logged nicely but remember the key goals: You want 4ppm of ammonia to drop to zero in under 10 hours since it was put in. At some point separate from that, you want to see a spike of 4 or 5 for nitrite. Then much later, while your ammonia is still dropping each day, you want the final goal that nitrite drops from somewhere high (like 4 or 5) down to zero in under 10 hours.

Those are the goals to focus on. You know nitrates will be there but their measurement doesn't figure in to the goals.

~~waterdrop~~

:::grin:::: I guess I'll never know for sure and all that because before I got the API test kit I wasn't able to test the nitrates....I was just playing with my "chemistry" set today LOL Even if it doesnt matter it was cool to see SOMETHING change colors! I'll stay focused on the nitrites ::::starin' at sky blue tube:::: LOL

 

[waterdrop]

good that your playing chemistry

lioness, I've seen many recommend these column entries for the daily log:

Day xx (day of fishless cycle)
Date, Time of day,
Hours since last ammonia added (useful later in process)
Temperature of water
Clarity of water (clear, milky, yellow, other) [not important, just interesting]
Ammonia
Nitrite
pH
Nitrate (only of interest later in process)
KH (optional, if needed)
checkmark & amt ammonia added back in (if needed)
notes to yourself about anything

~~waterdrop~~
ps. probably nobody makes entries every single day of course