nitrogen question

[captaincrampton]

I was wondering if it was possible for there to be nitrate in my tank when there is no nitrite but there is ammonia. I thought that nitrate was only caused by the bacteria that ate the nitrite, and the nitrite had to come from the bacteria that ate the ammonia. Therefore there should be no nitrate in my tank.

 

[neilanh]

Welcome to AA!

You are correct, that nitrAtes are the final product of the nitrogen cycle. However, it is common to have nitrAtes in your tap water as well. If this is a new tank, than that's probably the case, and you can test your tap water to find out.

If this is an older established tank that has completed a cycle, then you could be experiencing what's known as a mini-cycle. This can be caused by a number of factors, ranging from a sudden increase in bio-load to die-off of the beneficial bacteria.

 

[captaincrampton]

Yes, it is new. thanks for the information. ill check my tap water.

 

[tropicfishman]

neilanh is right, my tap water shows a very slight reading of nitrates. oddly I have had ammonia and nitrates but no nitrites before, I re tested a few horus later after I couldn't figure out why that was happening and the ammonia was gone. sometimes dechlorinatiing products will show a flase ammonia reading after it is added, thast why its best to wait 48 hours after cleaning a tank to check water paramters