TheDesktopAquarium Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 I have only started my tank last Wednesday, I think that I should note that I have fluval bio stratum, I dosed my tank with the proper amount of fastart f on Wednesday then on Thursday, Around that time I was seeing a little bit of ammonia, then yesterday, and today I noticed that nitrates are starting to show up, and now a little bit of nitrites are also showing up. I’m not new to cycling aquariums, but this is the only tank I have right now, it’s a 5 gallon tank with some dwarf Sag, Anubias, Java fern, water sprite and plan to put some water Wisteria, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tlindsey Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 On 2/10/2024 at 12:50 PM, TheDesktopAquarium said: I have only started my tank last Wednesday, I think that I should note that I have fluval bio stratum, I dosed my tank with the proper amount of fastart f on Wednesday then on Thursday, Around that time I was seeing a little bit of ammonia, then yesterday, and today I noticed that nitrates are starting to show up, and now a little bit of nitrites are also showing up. I’m not new to cycling aquariums, but this is the only tank I have right now, it’s a 5 gallon tank with some dwarf Sag, Anubias, Java fern, water sprite and plan to put some water Wisteria, Wow that's crazy definitely positive Nitrate. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katherine Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 I'm not familiar with that substrate. Could the nitrates be coming from that? And have you added any other fertilizers? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Odd Duck Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 Some bottled bacteria can have surprisingly active microflora that grow faster than the traditional bacteria but may not do a great job in the long run. Usually bottled bacteria have a wide mix and the hardier bacteria will eventually get going. In the mean time, you have to give the biofiltration to more fully develop and be patient. Keep testing, etc. Are you doing ammonia, blind feeding, or relying on the ammonia produced from your aquasoil type substrate? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 You can’t trust a nitrate reading when nitrite is In an aquarium nitrate tests work by breaking down nitrate into nitrite and testing for the nitrite so if there’s already nitrite in the water you will get a false high reading The amount depends on the test, some being as high as 100 to 1 so 1 ppm nitrite will look like 100 nitrate 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Galabar Posted February 10 Share Posted February 10 (edited) Yup: I've seen nitrite develop in 4-5 days after using filter media from another tank. However, just a day to show nitrite is pretty amazing. That must have been some good bacteria... 🙂 Edited February 10 by Galabar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Supermassive Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 I cycled a ten gallon tank recently and I never detected any nitrite at all but I was detecting ammonia and nitrate every day. The weird thing is I used pre cycled media too. It still took 2-3 weeks to get zero ammonia detected and I never detected nirtites at all. It just went straight from ammonia to nitrate. I use the API drop test. Nitrates doesn't mean your tank is fully cycled. Once you get zero ammonia and nitrite with some nitrate then you are fully cycled. On 2/10/2024 at 2:40 PM, face said: You can’t trust a nitrate reading when nitrite is In an aquarium nitrate tests work by breaking down nitrate into nitrite and testing for the nitrite so if there’s already nitrite in the water you will get a false high reading The amount depends on the test, some being as high as 100 to 1 so 1 ppm nitrite will look like 100 nitrate Is this only with test strips? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
face Posted February 11 Share Posted February 11 No all tests are the same nitrate doesn't react with much so they break it down into something else that’s more reactive nitrite any nitrate test that requires you to wait work this way your waiting for the nitrate to break Down into nitrite not all the nitrate is broken down though only a small amount this is why if you wait to long it will overdevelop Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheDesktopAquarium Posted February 12 Author Share Posted February 12 On 2/11/2024 at 11:17 AM, face said: No all tests are the same nitrate doesn't react with much so they break it down into something else that’s more reactive nitrite any nitrate test that requires you to wait work this way your waiting for the nitrate to break Down into nitrite not all the nitrate is broken down though only a small amount this is why if you wait to long it will overdevelop On 2/11/2024 at 11:17 AM, face said: No all tests are the same nitrate doesn't react with much so they break it down into something else that’s more reactive nitrite any nitrate test that requires you to wait work this way your waiting for the nitrate to break Down into nitrite not all the nitrate is broken down though only a small amount this is why if you wait to long it will overdevelop Yeah, it’s kind of strange, because yesterday and today I have zero nitrites and nitrates, also no ammonia, i’m trying to get some drop tests Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now