Nitrite Levels

[Pinkgeekette]

Hi everyone I'm Christina!

I'm looking for some advice on the new tank I've set up and the results I am getting from the water tests. I've read another post and I now understand the difference between nitrite and nitrate, however I am struggling to understand why the nitrite levels in my tank are too high? It is showing 1.0 mg/l. I am a very stupid person, so please give me fool proof answers. It's an old tank taken out of the attic and cleaned up. New stones, new ornaments etc... it's been running for one week. I used the Tetra 6 in 1 strip test with the aid of their App.

With no fish in the tank, what causes the nitrate to increase?

Is there something I can add to the water to rectify it?

The water hardness is also very high, are there any recommendations of product I could add to the water to fix this also?

Advanced thanks for you're help

 

[FishMommy8962]

Strip tests are notoriously unreliable. I highly recommend the API master test kit. It's expensive, but long term, it's cheaper because it comes with 800+ tests. Crushed coral helps stabilize ph. Good luck with your cycling!

 

[BBradbury]

Chris...

No worries. You don't have fish in there, so there's no harm done. Give us the specifics of the tank, like the dimensions, unless you know how many gallons it holds.

B

 

[JPG_97]

I apologize, I don't know much about nitrates or the latter, but I do know that Marimo balls are decent at filtering them although you can't rely on them alone to do the job. I will definitly hope onto this train to see if anyone has a good explanation so i can learn alongside you!

 

[Pinkgeekette]

Strip tests are notoriously unreliable. I highly recommend the API master test kit. It's expensive, but long term, it's cheaper because it comes with 800+ tests. Crushed coral helps stabilize ph. Good luck with your cycling!

Thank you

I should mention I am in Ireland! Also, this is a very small tank, just to get back into the swing of things per say. I have a much larger tank on order which I will set up in a few months, I just want to perfect things with the small tank and ensure I know what I am doing. I will look at getting the liquid tests, I know they are available in my local pet shop, just the price of them €€€!

 

[Pinkgeekette]

Chris...

No worries. You don't have fish in there, so there's no harm done. Give us the specifics of the tank, like the dimensions, unless you know how many gallons it holds.

B

Hi there please see my post to fishmommy, it's a small tank, only 25 litres.