Nitrate showing up a few days after nitrite?

[Mrs.h2012]

I just did my one of my daily water tests.... And these were my results..
Ammo:.25-.5ppm
Nitrite: 1-2ppm
Nitrate: 0-5ppm
pH: 7.8
the nitrate was very slight trace, I don't think it's dark enough to be 5 but it's definitely not 0, it was darker than yellow... Is this possible or do you guys think its a fluke? Obviously with levels like these I'm doing a massive WC as I'm typing this. Here is the picture of the nitrite and nitrate tests. What would you say the levels are?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I even retested my water, this was the result

 

[Borderlesscott]

Nothing wrong with that, happens nearly every time I cycle - that those Nitrites getting straight to work. I usually find getting the Nitrite level to drop takes a bit of time, though as its a smallish tank it might happen quickly - sooo close to finished!

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Makes me happy to know its just not a fluke! I these were my results at my testing at 6:30 after an 80-90% WC...
Ammo: .25ppm
Nitrite: .25ppm (or atleast I think it is)
Nitrate: 0-5ppm (again that's what I think)
I'm attaching a picture of the results so anyone else can say what they think levels are.

 

[jlk]

Did you test your tap water for nitrates as well? You appear to have the same reading (based on pics) before and after the 80-90%wc. Its not zero but def closer to/@ 5ppm.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Did you test your tap water for nitrates as well? You appear to have the same reading (based on pics) before and after the 80-90%wc. Its not zero but def closer to/@ 5ppm.

I tested my tap water when I first got my test kit almost a month ago, it had trace of ammonia (wasn't quite .25 but definitely wasn't 0 either) and 0 nitrite and nitrates. This is my 5th day of the 4th week of my fish in cycle. I had a slight ammonia spike about a week ago for a good 3-5 days then I nitrites started showing up a few days ago and today I had nitrates.

 

[jetajockey]

Looks like you are moving right along. The nitrite to nitrate portion of the cycle is faster than the initial ammonia to nitrite one for a few reasons.

Hopefully all will go well and you'll be done in the next week or two.

 

[jlk]

Thanks for the info! It may be worth double checking your tap water for nitrates only because your readings (based on the pics) appear identical both before and after a big water change. Tap nitrates can vary a bit and you need to be able to have a good idea of nitrate increases as your cycle progresses.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Just did another test...
Results were the same as the 6:30 test, .25 for ammonia and nitrite and 0-5 (closer to 5) nitrate

 

[cwmont13]

I'm asking this only because I don't see anybody else mentioning it but did you really shake those nitrate bottles good before your test? I had a couple of funny readings early on in my fishless cycle because I didn't shake the bottles real good before I tested.

 

[Mrs.h2012]

I'm asking this only because I don't see anybody else mentioning it but did you really shake those nitrate bottles good before your test? I had a couple of funny readings early on in my fishless cycle because I didn't shake the bottles real good before I tested.

Yes I did. I also bang them against something a few times after shaking them too. I've read those posts too and make sure I do that everytime before testing.