pearls-before-swine
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Oct 12, 2011
- Messages
- 14
My cycle has been doing weird things, so I just wanted to ask here..google hasn't been much help.
Essentially, my question is..what does the ammo > nitri > nitra cycle look like? If I add ammo, how long does it take to convert to nitrite and then to nitrate? Will you be able to detect a rise in nitrite levels, or does it get converted to nitrate at an equal speed?
I've been cycling my tank for awhile now (3 weeks) and I *think* its cycled, but I'm not sure.. I dose it to 4 ppm ammo every day (it will drop to zero). About a week ago the nitrite levels were off the chart, with very little nitrate.
Now, my nitrite levels are close to zero (yay!) but my nitrate levels are only around 40ppm...here's where it gets weird.. I'm using the API liquid tests. I tested for nitrate last night as per the directions (waited ~10 mins before reading, shook bottle 2 extremely well/banged on the floor to get the powder off the bottom), came back with the same reading i've been getting for a week. I then got distracted with the kids and forgot to rinse it out. When I got up this morning, the colour was way darker, like closer to 80-100ppm. Anyone have any idea what's going on here? Is the test accurate after 5 mins like it says in the instructions, or is my overnight reading correct?
Thanks in advance!
Essentially, my question is..what does the ammo > nitri > nitra cycle look like? If I add ammo, how long does it take to convert to nitrite and then to nitrate? Will you be able to detect a rise in nitrite levels, or does it get converted to nitrate at an equal speed?
I've been cycling my tank for awhile now (3 weeks) and I *think* its cycled, but I'm not sure.. I dose it to 4 ppm ammo every day (it will drop to zero). About a week ago the nitrite levels were off the chart, with very little nitrate.
Now, my nitrite levels are close to zero (yay!) but my nitrate levels are only around 40ppm...here's where it gets weird.. I'm using the API liquid tests. I tested for nitrate last night as per the directions (waited ~10 mins before reading, shook bottle 2 extremely well/banged on the floor to get the powder off the bottom), came back with the same reading i've been getting for a week. I then got distracted with the kids and forgot to rinse it out. When I got up this morning, the colour was way darker, like closer to 80-100ppm. Anyone have any idea what's going on here? Is the test accurate after 5 mins like it says in the instructions, or is my overnight reading correct?
Thanks in advance!