New and at a loss !

[sanknic]

Hello,

My name is Sandra and I have recently bought a tank and done a LOT of reading. It's all very exciting and can't wait to get some fish BUT, I have been doing a fishless cycle and once completed I did a 90% water change and gave my tank and gravel a bit of a clean up too, I also put aquasafe in the tank after replenishing the water. This caused a nitrite spike in my readings.

I have continued to cycle my tank again for the past week until my readings were ammonia -0ppm, Nitrite - 0ppm and Nitrate - 5ppm, yay! This time, having learned from the previous water change I did, I simply changed 25% of the water (having used aqua safe in the new water and leaving it for five minutes before putting the fresh water in the tank) and yet again I have a Nitrite spike (5ppm) in my tank again.

Am I simply testing the water too soon or is there something not right? I don't understand why I'm getting a nitrite spike after water changes that supposedly reduce nitrites in the tank.

Any help , much appreciated, getting very frustrated !



Sandra

 

[coralbandit]

Test your source water for nitrites!
How did you fishless cycle?
Are/were you adding ammonia to cycle?

 

[sanknic]

Hi,

I have tested my tap water for nitrites ammonia and nitrates and there are none so it's not coming straight from the tap. Not sure what you mean by how am I doing a fishless cycle?! I have bought a tank (54 litres) thae came with a thermostat and a filter, I've put a wood log in there, five plants and two decorations, can't fit mych more in there without overcrowding the tank. I have gravel as a subtrate and I have been feeding the tank with ammonia from a bottle at 4ppm every 24 hours. Pretty sure the cycle has completed twice now but as I say, when I do a water change I get a nitrite spike. I tested the water pretty much straight away today but left it until the next day previously so it doesn't seem to make much difference when I do the test.

 

[Delapool]

I assume you have been getting ammonia readings in the past? Also were you getting an ammonia reading with the nitrite spike?

Last one was looking at if ph is controlling something here. Would you have ph readings before and after the water change. And what test kit are you using?

Sorry, lots of questions as seems a bit of a puzzle to nut out.