Dropn in Nitrates

[2ndtimer]

Hello everyone,

I am in the process of cycling a 90 gal freshwater tank with about 6 small green crypts planted. My nitrate level was @ 40 yesterday and today it is @ 5. I retested after a couple of hours to be sure it was correct and it is still @ 5. Is this normal or do you think the drop is due to the plants. I didn't think I had enough to make a difference. Anyone else HD this experience? Thanks for all input

 

[blert]

I doubt six small crypts could suck 35ppm of nitrate out of a 90 gallon tank in one night. Chances are that yesterday's test was flawed. What is the nitrate concentration of your source water?

 

[jlk]

Hi! I have seen this before in both planted & non-planted tanks during a fishless cycle. Its nothing to be concerned about as its likely your plants are having some effect here. Just keep monitoring your ph, ammonia, & nitrites. As long as your ph is stable & your seeing forward progression, all is well! Dont hesitate to ask if you have questions

 

[2ndtimer]

Drop in Nitrates

The water source nitrate level is 0ppm. I am on day 12 of my cycling process and have had a steady increase in nitrates each day to 40 being the Max and then the sudden drop to 5....

 

[jlk]

What about your ammonia, nitrite, & ph levels? Did you start with cycled media?

 

[2ndtimer]

Drop in Nitrates

I actually checked everything twice today @ 6:30am ammo was .25, trite was 1, and trate was 5. Ph is a steady 8 and temp steady @ 79.5. Ammo was increased to 4ppm and when I checked everything @ around 9am........ ammo - 1ppm, trite - 2ppm, trate - 5ppm. Everything is progressing great so far, I just thought the rate drop to 5 was weirddddd Thanks so much for your input. Greatly appreciated...

 

[jlk]

Thats great progression! Keep up the good work! I honestly dont have an exact explanation of where your nitrates are going (beyond the plants) but I have seen this happen before with others tanks as well as in one of my own tanks during a fishless cycle. I never received an explanation (beyond testing error) nor have I have found a justifiable answer for why this may happen. Ill do some looking & let you know if I find something!

 

[2ndtimer]

Thanks....... Maybe it is the plants They certainly do look bright and healthy (LOL!) I have them stuck in cichlid sand and no ferts or anything special. Turn the lights on @ sundown and off @ bedtime with advice to "grow if you want to".........

 

[Koikid88]

That is odd, a drop like that. I highly doubt the plants are the sole cause, but most likely play a role in it. You sound like you understand the cycle process. I had the opposite during my fish-in cycle for 90g. My nitrates would shoot up from 10ppm to 60 in a day! I wouldn't normally care, or follow it that closely, but it was my first fish-in so I was doing daily PWC. No losses. Took almost 10 weeks though. Was a success through patience.
Had a nasty algae bloom too during the process, but patience once again wins as simple clean water, excel and proper lighting took care of it before expensive fish went it.

 

[2ndtimer]

That is my main concern about losing expensive fish which is why I want to make sure my cycle completes. I did check a 3rd time after about 4 hours and ammo has dropped to .25, trites @ 2 and trates are now @ 10ppm. I will check everything tomorrow morning and see what I have then.... I can't wait to finish this cycle and get some fish I was hoping by Sunday, but we shall see how it goes..

 

[bs6749]

Either you did a water change to reduce the nitrates or the test was done improperly. This could be simply from not shaking the testing solution or tube long enough or by reading the wrong color. Crypts are slow growing plants and wouldn't account for the entirety of the 35ppm drop in nitrates.

 

[2ndtimer]

No water change and performed the test the same as every other day by actually shaking for 60 seconds to make sure it is mixed well. It was just odd. After checking a 3rd time today after increasing ammo to 4ppm, the nitrate is now @ 10ppm and I will take measurements in the morning to see where everything stands. Hopefully this is an indication I am nearing the end of the cycling period........

 

[2ndtimer]

Wow!!

I checked my parameters this morning @ 6am and ammo - 0, nitrite - 0, nitrate - 0, temp - 79.5 and pH - 8. I added ammo to reach 2ppm and waited until 4pm for recheck and parameters were back to zero (0) again How odd was that cycle?? I only added 6 algae eaters for today and tomorrow will add a few more after testing... I just want to thank everyone for helping me out when needed. I'm proud to be a part of this forum

 

[jlk]

Congrats! Just keep an eye on things over the next week or so to make sure things stay stable.

 

[2ndtimer]

Will do...