Nitrogen

[Ashenwelt]

So, I am totally irritated with my nitrogen cycle. So, I have fish in cycled with Stability, and have a planted tank. So what is weird is my Ammonia sits at zero, my nitrites sits between 0.01 and 0.02, my nitrates sit around 3-5.

Argh. Keep wanting the magic zero.

Thoughts?

 

[TMaier]

How long you been doing this?


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[Ashenwelt]

About a week, though nitrates goes up and down. Nitrates have moved up to ten, but not in the last few days.

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[TMaier]

You got some weeks ahead of you before the magic usually happens.


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[plantnoob]

Is "stability" a bottled bacteria product?


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[Ashenwelt]

Yep

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[TMaier]

Your insanity will occur before the magic.

Waiting makes us all crazy. But worth it.


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[Barliman]

About a week, though nitrates goes up and down. Nitrates have moved up to ten, but not in the last few days.

I used Stability, too, but in a fishless cycle with ammonia. While I'm sure Stability accelerated the process, it still took about four weeks as I recall.

 

[Ashenwelt]

Tomorrow is day 28 so... close to four weeks. Though today, tired of cloudy water I added a second hob. Primary is a AC70 with double biomax and two sponges and the second is a tetra whisper ex20 packed with floss. See if i have extra detritus floating around... gonna clean it out. Well... back to checking tomorrow lol.

Thanks all. Have to see how it goes... either way just upped my filtration so hope that helps.

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[gilpi]

Save your money, stay away from stability or any other magic potions.
Keep up with the cycling and before you know it, you'll have fish in your tank.
28 days, you're almost there!

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[Ashenwelt]

Save your money, stay away from stability or any other magic potions.
Keep up with the cycling and before you know it, you'll have fish in your tank.
28 days, you're almost there!

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I did mention fish in cycling... wife demanded fish close to immediately. My nano will be fishless.

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[Ashenwelt]

Day 28, Ammonia 0, Nitrite slightly less than .01, Nitrate is 6.75. Its driving me crazy, LOL. Want that Nitrite to ZERO LOL.

Anyone else who has been here knows my insanity level.

 

[plantnoob]

I feel your pain! I cannot imagine waiting 28 days. I begged and pleaded and got filter media from a colleague of mine. Was done cycling in a jiffy. Hope you get there soon mate!


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[Caliban07]

Day 28, Ammonia 0, Nitrite slightly less than .01, Nitrate is 6.75. Its driving me crazy, LOL. Want that Nitrite to ZERO LOL.



Anyone else who has been here knows my insanity level.

You are right on course mate.


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[Ashenwelt]

I feel your pain! I cannot imagine waiting 28 days. I begged and pleaded and got filter media from a colleague of mine. Was done cycling in a jiffy. Hope you get there soon mate!


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You are right on course mate.


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Thanks all!

Still 0 A .01 Nitrite and up to 7.5 nitrates... what Nitrate should I be expecting in a planted tank?

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[Ingy]

Nitrate levels will depend on bioload and plant type (growing speed). Nothing wrong with a 7.5 ppm nitrate.

As for nitrite, 0.01??? My test kit only goes to 0.1 ppm. A Hanna checker ultra low tester has a resolution of 10 ppb (or 0.01 ppm) so your essentially at zero.

Because you did a fish in cycle, your bacterial colony will be small. So only add fish slowly and watch for the inevitable ammonia/nitrite spike every time you add more fish.


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[Ashenwelt]

Nitrate levels will depend on bioload and plant type (growing speed). Nothing wrong with a 7.5 ppm nitrate.

As for nitrite, 0.01??? My test kit only goes to 0.1 ppm. A Hanna checker ultra low tester has a resolution of 10 ppb (or 0.01 ppm) so your essentially at zero.

Because you did a fish in cycle, your bacterial colony will be small. So only add fish slowly and watch for the inevitable ammonia/nitrite spike every time you add more fish.


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I use the Seachem tests, I know they work with Prime right and most don't. But yeah, technically a little lower. I was hoping for more nitrates, but they my tank has a good number of plants getting Seachem Excel every other day... And several marimo moss balls as well.

Sadly... dang thing started stocked lol.

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[Ashenwelt]

So what is the target Nitrates in a planted tank? This is something I really am confused on... some places refer to 20 or 40 or 60... others say that's bad. So what the heck number is my target?

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[Caliban07]

So what is the target Nitrates in a planted tank? This is something I really am confused on... some places refer to 20 or 40 or 60... others say that's bad. So what the heck number is my target?

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The target is to ensure that the plants are non limited when it comes to nitrogen. The form of nitrogen (nitrate) we typically add to ensure this across all systems is about 20ppm per week. You can add more or less and your plants and fish will still be ok but how much you need depends on the number of plants you have, their mass and how intense your lighting is.

To find out where the 20ppm number comes from read this article

http://www.ukaps.org/index.php?page=dosing-with-dry-salts

Read it all and it will become clear.


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