Am I Fishless Cycling Right?

[Fishperson]

OK, I'll try it. When should I expect to see nitrates? Should they have already appeared?

 

[Hholly]

Nitrates should be appearing very soon after nitrites start going down.

 

[Fishperson]

Last night I got:
8.3 ph
5-10 nitrates
And that weird nitrite thing. I will try and clean out my test tubes this weekend.

 

[Fishperson]

I tested just now and got:
0 ammonia
7.8 ph
and that weird nitrite thing.
I did the nitrate test 2 different ways:
1. Did as directed, added 10 drops of bottle #1, inverted several times, shook #2 for 30 seconds, added 10 drops of #2, shook for a minute. I got 5--10 nitrates, as usual
2. Shook #2 for 30 seconds, added 10 drops of #1 and 10 drops of #2, then shook for a minute. I read this one 5 minutes after I added in the drops from both bottles. So 4 minutes after shaking. But this time, I got ~100 nitrates!!!
Which was right?

 

[jmay33]

I tested just now and got:
0 ammonia
7.8 ph
and that weird nitrite thing.
I did the nitrate test 2 different ways:
1. Did as directed, added 10 drops of bottle #1, inverted several times, shook #2 for 30 seconds, added 10 drops of #2, shook for a minute. I got 5--10 nitrates, as usual
2. Shook #2 for 30 seconds, added 10 drops of #1 and 10 drops of #2, then shook for a minute. I read this one 5 minutes after I added in the drops from both bottles. So 4 minutes after shaking. But this time, I got ~100 nitrates!!!
Which was right?

I don't know for sure, but I'd bet 5-10 is correct. 100 is excessive. Have you been doing water changes? That's the most effective way to reduce nitrates.

 

[tiger terror]

If its an API test kit follow the directions religiously...while doing a fishless cycle we don't worry about doing wc's to bring down the nitrate level as nitrates are a signal that our cycle is completing...then after getting 0's in ammo/nitrites consistantly for a few days we do a huge wc(as much as 90%)to bring the nitrates to within exceptable levels(5-10ppm) wc's are more commonly performed during a fishless cycle if our ph behaves erraticly(such as a sudden drop)usually caused by excessive nitrites...usually a 25% wc at that point to stabilize the ph&dodge a stall in the cycle..

 

[Fishperson]

I haven't done any water changes yet. I think that maybe the reason the nitrite is acting funny is that the nitrites are so high that it is way off the charts maybe? But then again, it went 8,12,8,5,2,.25, funny reading, so it looked like it was going down. IDK

 

[Fishperson]

Last night i got:
0 ammonia
funny nitrite thing
5-10 nitrates
7.8 ph

just now i tested for ph and got 7.9

 

[Hholly]

It's okay to do water changes. Won't harm the cycle.

 

[tiger terror]

It's okay to do water changes. Won't harm the cycle.

I agree but there is really no need unless you have a ph drop or your nitrites are off the charts&then do a wc to get them within readable levels(high nitrites can be a precursor to ph dropping)...

 

[Fishperson]

Nitrite: Weird reading
Nitrate: 5-10
Ph: 7.7

 

[jmay33]

Nitrite: Weird reading
Nitrate: 5-10
Ph: 7.7

Can you possibly post a picture of what your weird reading is?

 

[jlk]

What color is the weird reading? Nitrites when they reach excessive levels for extended period of time will slow, stall or reverse a cycle.

 

[Fishperson]

i will post a pic of the reading soon. It looks like turquoiseish grayish blueish, almost like the 0 color for nitrites.

 

[Fishperson]

but it can't be 0 because there are almost no nitrates.

 

[librarygirl]

Sounds like they might be off-chart. I'd do a full water change, wait an hour or so and then test nitrite again. If it's still high, do another water change. Try to get them to a readable level on the chart (<2) then redose ammonia and check in 24 hours.

 

[Fishperson]

Just tested and got:
Weird nitrite thing
5-10 nitrate
and when I did my high range ph it looked like between 7.4 and 7.8, because it was a dark yellow, but I wasn't sure so I did a normal ph test and got 6.4 !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
what do I do now?

 

[tiger terror]

Sounds like they might be off-chart. I'd do a full water change, wait an hour or so and then test nitrite again. If it's still high, do another water change. Try to get them to a readable level on the chart (<2) then redose ammonia and check in 24 hours.

I agree with Librarygirl,can you post a pic of the nitrite test?

 

[Fishperson]

Ok, here is the picture:

 

[Fishperson]

it looks bluer than it actually is, it is almost grayish, but it looks similar to the 0 nitrite reading.