water testing questions?

[dancersmama79]

my tank is getting extremely cloudy but the ammonia is at .25 and the nitrites are still at 0 so should i be worried??

 

[Mumma.of.two]

The cloudiness would most likely be a bacteria bloom. Very common in cycling tanks. It will clear on its own.

 

[dancersmama79]

ok thank you

 

[dancersmama79]

Im a happy momma

since putting dancer in his new 5 gal tank at the end of jan hes not ever made a bubble nest and he used to make them all the time in his 1 gal... hes had a few probs come up and ive added the snails and been doing water changes and their tank is cycling and so it seems they have been going thru quite alot lately.... but i came home today and dancer had made a bubble nest in the corner of his tank and met me when i came in the room like Hi Mom thank you for taking care of me.... i thought it was so cool.... hes just swimming around leisurely not agitated or stressed at all he hangs out with the smaller snail and frequently visits the surface for air making more bubbles and hes a happy dancer again so glad hes doing better at least showing signs of not being stressed or agitated anymore tho im sure he will have his days....

 

[dancersmama79]

did my water change and the sponge i put in the filter to help get beneficial bacteria has literally disintegrated so i had to throw it out before the snails or dancer started eating the particles... the filter from the smaller filter i put in there when i changed filters is green and blackish and the main filter cartridge for the filter is getting green all over it... im thinking this is a good thing since the beneficial bacteria grows in the filter and filter media??? still have a little bit of a bacterial bloom but not as bad as was a couple days ago.... still no nitrites yet tho...

 

[dancersmama79]

Been testing my tank since 2/10 and finally have nitrites.. my ammonia is at 2.0 and my nitrites are at 1.0 ph is 7.6 and nitrates are still at 0... doing a 50% water change then testing again after about 20 mins to check the levels again...

 

[dancersmama79]

so after the water change and waiting 25 minutes to test again my ammonia is down to .50 and the nitrites are at .25.... with a cycling tank is it ok to drop the nitrites like that ? will they come back then convert to nitrates? i dont want to restart my cycle....

 

[Mumma.of.two]

so after the water change and waiting 25 minutes to test again my ammonia is down to .50 and the nitrites are at .25.... with a cycling tank is it ok to drop the nitrites like that ? will they come back then convert to nitrates? i dont want to restart my cycle....

There will always be small amounts of ammonia in the cycling tank even if the test kit doesn't pick it up. So there will always be food for the bacteria resulting in nitrite and eventually nitrate. IMO .5 nitrite and ammonia is still high. Ideally you want to keep doing water changes until you can get them down to .25ppm or less. When the test kit reads .25ppm in reality it could be just over or just under .25ppm.
Treat nitrite like ammonia. It's just as toxic.

 

[dancersmama79]

so its safe to keep doing water changes as necessary to keep the levels down and it will still cycle like its suppose to?

 

[Mumma.of.two]

so its safe to keep doing water changes as necessary to keep the levels down and it will still cycle like its suppose to?

Yes!

 

[dancersmama79]

ok great thats what i was worried about... thank you

 

[dancersmama79]

Tested my tank yesterday and my ammonia and nitrites are both 0 and nitrates are at 20 ppm and ph is at 6.4 im keeping my temp between 78 and 80 i put in a cuttlebone for my snails and my betta is making bubble nests all over the place and his fins are 2 inches longer and my snails are getting bigger they seem to be happy and healthy and my tank seems to be doing just fine now

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Yay!

 

[dancersmama79]

my tank has been consistently at these levels for the past 4-5 days : ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20, ph 6.4 does this mean my tank is cycled?? if so when will i know to do water changes??

 

[Fishy Aston]

Your tank is doing well.

Good levels.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

my tank has been consistently at these levels for the past 4-5 days : ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 20, ph 6.4 does this mean my tank is cycled?? if so when will i know to do water changes??

Yes it does! Well done! As nitrates approach 20ppm or once a week. What ever comes first. Looks like your due for one now.

 

[dancersmama79]

thank you for all your help you have been a godsend

 

[dancersmama79]

took 6-8 weeks for my 5 gal with a betta and 2 snails to cycle but it was definitely worth the effort they are thriving and they are my "water babies" lol