Fishless Cycling- getting Nitrate reading before Nitrites.

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beachywoman
 
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:31 pm

Fishless Cycling- getting Nitrate reading before Nitrites.

by beachywoman

I am keeping my Ammonia Levels around 5ppm at least until I see Nitrites. I should start seeing Nitrite levels but instead I am only seeing Nitrate levels starting to rise. It is still in the safe range but shouldn't I be seeing some Nitrites first????


Tmercier834747
 
Posts: 887
Joined: Wed Feb 13, 2008 8:33 pm

by Tmercier834747

your ammo should have dropped to 0 along with nitrite before seeing nitrate (but of course you knew that part) however I'm not sure what the results would be if you have continued over the course of 3 weeks to physically add ammonia. The concentration from that bottle of ammo you're creating is probably more of a spike (When added) then would normally be gradually "peed" out by fish.. I would stop adding the ammo for a few days and see if your nitrate levels hold or increase.


beachywoman
 
Posts: 40
Joined: Sun Jan 11, 2009 8:31 pm

by beachywoman

I have held off for about 2 days now from adding any ammonia. I checked it last night and it is still at 5ppm which is where I think I need it to be. I was waiting on the Nitrite reading so I could start decreasing the Ammonia I add but that never came. I agree with you, I think I will just hold off a little longer and wait to see if the Ammonia drops or If if I hopefully start to see Nitrites. Thanks for your help. Being patient is so hard to do!!


tomargir
 
Posts: 39
Joined: Mon Mar 02, 2009 1:18 pm

by tomargir

I know that 5ppm is what many sites suggest, but according to my experience, this is way too high. I always think that 1-3ppm (for heavy stocking) is the way to go.
You are doing fine. When the nitrite starts to rise, you should not decrease the ammonia you feed the system because your nitrosomonas will starve. You should keep feeding them daily. Practically, when nitrite spikes, you will see that even if you add the right ammount of ammonia to maintain your original (pre-nitrite) levels, the bacteria will consume all of the ammonia overnight and every morning you will be getting 0 readings of ammonia.


aaronnorth
 
Posts: 12
Joined: Fri Dec 26, 2008 4:49 pm

by aaronnorth

the nitrates may be coming from your tap water - have you tested it?

Fishless Cycling- getting Nitrate reading before Nitrites.

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