Problem.....

[Viperboy]

Ok so last night around 8 i check my water on my test kit and ammonia was 0 nitrite was very light blueish/purpale so i considered it 0 or really close and my nitrates were about 30 or 40 ..... so i considered my cycle done. So after that i mixed up 15gals of water let it mix for awhile and did my 50% PWC on my 29gal tank. Also I ordered some critters online from liveaquaria that are supposed to come sometime today. Here is my problem ..... i just tested my water again with my kit exspecting everything to be perfect since i did the PWC ..... well ammonia is 0 and nitrates are about where i want em around 15 or 10 (still could come down a little) ..... but the nitrite test colored up quite a bit and is showing that i have around 1ppm or so ..... HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE? ..... should i do another PWC before my critters get here? or after? help please :/ TIA

Ray

 

[melosu58]

Solely Seeing that ammonia and nitrites are at 0 is not notifying you that the cycle is done. Did you see a spike in both of them and then were they at 0. How long did your tank cycle?

 

[austinsdad]

How did you cycle and how long. As said, if you never saw the spike in both readings, maybe it didn't cycle yet.

 

[Viperboy]

ive cycled 4 FW tanks using fishless cycle so i forgot to mention that and yes i saw a big spike in both ammonia (about 3 weeks ago) and a big spike in nitrites (about week and half ago) ..... it has been cycling maybe a little over a month and a week id say

Ray

 

[roka64]

Hmmmm, can you re-verify the results, possibly at your LFS. It is possible the test kit might be old and not giving an accurate reading.

 

[Viperboy]

What i dont understand is how if there is no ammonia last night and i did the 50% PWC how in the heck would there be more nitrites without some ammonia being added ... i just re tested and got the same result .... a little under 1 id say ..... so should i do a PWC before the hermits get here or should i wait and see if they do ok ... and i cant go to the LFS right now because im waiting for the Fedex guy to come.

Ray

 

[roka64]

Ammonia is toxic and your clean up crew might not make it under those conditions, they tend to be fragile.

 

[Viperboy]

ammonia is 0 im worried about nitrites

 

[roka64]

Ack, sorry was thinking about another post! NitrItes are toxic also, try another PWC and see if that helps.

 

[Viperboy]

Ok well i just did a 5gal PWC which is about 20% on my 29gal so ill wait a little bit and test again and see whats up .... luckily my critters have not arrived yet so hopefully this all works out

Ray

 

[austinsdad]

Iw ondering about the accuracy of the nitrite test now. What kind ya using? Not that I coulcd tell you one might be better than the other, but maybe others might recognize something.

 

[Viperboy]

The AP Saltwater Master Test Kit .... im gonna test again today when i get home from class and see whats up .... but i got my order yesterday from liveaquaria and the banded coral shrimp i ordered was DOA but they refunded me the money but all the other critters are alive and i acclimated them using the drip method for about 2 or 3 hours in a bucket and they seem to be doin fine in the aquarium today .... ill let you guys know how the tests go today and maybe try to get some pics of the tank after i cut the top out of egg crate for it (seeing as ill have a lot of time tonight cause i dont have class tom )

Ray

 

[austinsdad]

Pics. Pics. Pics!!

 

[roka64]

Definitely pics are needed! Sorry about the shrimp....

 

[Viperboy]

Well ive got good news and i got bad news .... the bad news is i dont have pictures .... the good news is that i just tested my water and something must have happen since yesterday because nitrites are about as bright blue as they can be and are reading 0 now .... and nitrates are reading around 10ish or so .... so overall im happy now and i may do another pwc tom just to get the nitrates down a tad because tom i plan on going to the store and picking out my first SW fish and adding him (a clownfish) .... im excited .... thanks all and maybe i can get some pics tom

Ray

 

[austinsdad]

Great news. Good luck.

 

[roka64]

I'm glad everything is working out for you! What kind of clown are you getting, maybe a mated pair?