Skipping Nitrites?

[millerb7]

So my tank has been going for... well... about 17 days now. About 10 days ago I got some filter media and some substrate from my friends 125 gallon tank.

Things are going slower than I hoped. Today my ammonia was back down to around 2ppm (this is the 2nd time now it's dropped to 2ppm)... still 0 no2, but I went ahead and checked the no3 and it's def. NOT 0, closer to 5ppm.

Is it possible to not have no2 at all since I had the media and substrate?

 

[librarygirl]

Yes it's possible, but still a bit early to tell. If ammonia starts dropping to 0 regularly and you have nitrates growing but no nitrite, then I'd say it's safe to say the tank would be cycled without a nitrite phase. I think it's too early to tell for sure though since it's fairly early into the cycle and ammonia isn't dropping to 0 yet.

 

[Dwohlge1]

When I cycled my tank the same thing happened the on day 6 I started getting Nitrites. A week later Nitrite were off the charts.

I also used filter medium from an established tank. I would give it more time.

I have another thread where I have been documenting my status of the cycling tank.

 

[jlk]

Your not quite there yet! Your ammonia still needs to reliably drop to zero from 4ppm every da!y and you need a large production of nitrates before you can safely say your cycled (even if you never see nitrites). I did fishless cycling on my 50gal using filter media and plants from my established 20gal and had nitrates from day one. It still took a SOLID 3 weeks for my tank to cycle (and then another couple of days to make sure it was!)! Have some patience

 

[millerb7]

Oh. I know 100% I'm not cycled. My question was more making sure it can skip no2 with nothing wrong.

 

[jlk]

Just keep dosing amm up to 4ppm every day and checking your nitrites & nitrates. Your amm is starting to drop so you are getting closer!!

 

[jlk]

Heres one other thought on your situation. It is possible that your nitrites are so off the charts high that you are getting an unusual test result. When you are testing for nitrites, does the bottom of the test tube turn intially purple (before you shake it) then turn some other color after shaking it??

 

[Phranque]

Funny you should mention it... I didn't have any seed material, so I tried Tetra Safestart. After about a 4 week cycle, not once did I see Nitrites.

 

[millerb7]

Ammonia back down to 2ppm tonight, dosed back up to 4ppm... no2 is still at 0... but no3 is now at 5ppm.... so it appears as if I might be skipping the no2 phase.

Still some time to go though

 

[BHead707]

your tap water can have no3 in it..try testing it

 

[ldaniel]

Try mixing the sample 50/50 with Di water, if there are no nitrItes then nothing will change. If there are to many the a .5 dilution may get results.

 

[jlk]

Both testing your tap water for nitrates and diluting a sample to test for nitrites are great suggestions!!! Please let us know what you find out!

 

[millerb7]

I'm thinking my tap water has no no3... I will test though. I only thing this because I was getting 0 no3 for about 2 weeks... then I added the media, now I'm getting a reading of some after a week of the established media being in the filter.

I'll def. test though.

 

[librarygirl]

I think it's fine, personally, lol. For being fairly early into the cycle, you have some ammonia dropping (most people wait 2-3 weeks for ammonia to even start dropping) and you have detectable nitrates, which shows conversion. You may or may not get nitrites, but either way isn't a big deal and it's still too early to tell. Once ammonia starts dropping to 0 every 24 hours and if it does that consistently for at least a week and nitrites remain at 0 then I'd say you'd be cycled. If nitrites show up, then they show up and just wait until they come down. It's really just patience.

 

[Mrc8858]

Just to add my 2 cents u Sed ur rates r only 5 ppm which is bottom of the scale so perhaps u r getting false reading due to testing wrong... if ur using the api masterkit then u have to be careful when testing rates its the easiest test to mess up on.. u really gotta make sure u shake the bottle for 30 seconds vigorously and then the tube for a min but maybe u did just thought id say something

 

[jlk]

Just a note-its worthwhile to test your water source for am/nitrites/nitrates/ph/hardness so you know what you are starting with!