Odd water readings & updated pic

[Spankenstyne]

So i'm about 9 days into the cycle, with 4 comets and some plants, and i'm getting:

Just trace ammonia maybe .2 at the most ppm

my Nitrites are reading 1.6 ppm

Nitrates are reading 10 ppm


PH has been a steady 7.5-7.6 the whole time so far. Haven't checked it every day but when i do it seems to be the same.

General Hardness was the upper end of moderately hard


Now are these readings in line with where my water should be at the part of the cycle? I understand the PH and hardness end of it i really don't need to concern myself with, it should be steady and has been but is it common to have low ammonia but 1.6 ppm nitrites and also have 10 ppm nitrates? I thought i had read that generally higher nitrates are associated with higher ammonia?

Here's how it looks so far:

Pictures aren'tt the greatest, just learning how to use the new digital i got lol.

 

[BrianNY]

Nitrates are the end product of the cycle and have nothing to do with high ammonia. I don't think your readings look that strange and you're halfway through the cycle. You're cultivating two different bacteria. One that feeds on ammonia, and one that feeds on nitrites. Eventually they will reach a poit of equilibrium and will consume all of the ammonia and nitrites leaving only nitrates as the end product.

Your tank looks great. I would position the heater along the back wall horizontally a few inches above the gravel. Not only will it be hidden, it will keep the water throughout the tank more evenly heated.

 

[Tiffi]

Your tank looks really awesome!

 

[rich311k]

Tank looks great. Sounds like your cycle is progressing nicely.

 

[Spankenstyne]

Oh ok it makes more sense now. The literature with the test kit had mentioned that a high nitrite reading meant high levels of ammonia and that i should test for that immediately etc, then having low to no ammonia kinda threw me off. Good to know it's progressing properly and thanks for the info and compliments all!

(i just noticed that i wrote in the original post:
"I thought i had read that generally higher nitrates are associated with higher ammonia? I meant Nitr*i*te lol and i thought i was being so careful to get my a's and i's in the right place )


A question about the heater placement, is it fine then if plants are touching it? Some of the plants back there are very close to the back wall and if i place the heater horizontally back there the plants would be touching it. I had assumed i didn't want any plants touching it directly but if that's fine then i'll definitely try out your suggestion. I was thinking with the rock there the heat might be better distributed where i had put it and might not get as much flow back behind the rocks ?
I'm definitely open to suggestions though and will try it out if it's doable. Pretty good current happening too if it makes any difference?

Batteries died in the digital thermometer lol just my luck. Off to get some new ones