TFrost19
Aquarium Advice Newbie
I have been cycling my 20 gallon for over 2 months and I can't get my nitrites to lower. I have done water changes and added Dr. Tims one and only and my nitrites still very purple.
What are your full water parameters? Need to know pH, ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, GH, KH and temperature.I have been cycling my 20 gallon for over 2 months and I can't get my nitrites to lower. I have done water changes and added Dr. Tims one and only and my nitrites still very purple.
You need to understand the ecology of the aquarium and what the cycle means. In short: when you have 0 ammonia and nitrites after they went up and down, there are enough microbes to handle the ammonia load that is present from the livestock in the tank. The method BBradbury is using and describing is not letting the ammonia level ever get high enough to be toxic to the fish. You don't need much in the way of nitrifying microbes if you never have enough ammonia to feed them. There are cases where fish can live in tanks that never " cycle" because the water's pH is so low, nitrifying microbes can't live. The plus side to these setups is that there is no nitrites or nitrates because the ammonia ( which is actually ammonium at those lower pH levels) never gets converted. The down side is that the fish are living in water that is higher in their " bodily functions" in between water changes and you need to be doing water changes frequently to remove those excretions unless you have things like plants that can utilize them or livestock that feeds off the feces.Don't you have to feed Dr. Tims one and only? What are you keeping your ammonia level at?
Definitely. With one of my hatcheries, I didn't take a vacation for near 13 years. When it closed, I took about 15 vacations over the next couple of years. LOLHello again. Andy is correct about the dedication required if you decide to follow such an aggressive water change routine. I don't think more than one in 10,000 or so tank keepers would consistently follow it. However, you won't find a more balanced water chemistry, nor healthier fish if you can do it. I have 10, large tanks and have been changing out most of the water every few days for a lot of years. I don't do vacations, but I've been rewarded with Tetras that are six years old, Plecos that are eight, Guppies live to four, Platies at least four and Corydoras that are seven years old. I can even get Feeder Goldfish to approach 8. So, to me, the water keeping hobby isn't just a part time interest, it's a long term commitment.
B
The thing is the OP's test kit may be faulty or the reagents bad and the complete panel can bare that out or confirm it's correct. The nitrifying microbe that converts nitrite to nitrate has parameters that will make them reproduce faster and if the OP's water isn't within those parameters, that too can explain the slow reduction. That's why you need to know all of it, not just some of it.Thank you both for all your input I learn a lot from you both along with Aiken. It looks like we just don't know enough about TFrost19 water. I was thinking he is not cycled (I don't know) and has no fish (don't know this either) and that Dr.Tims One and Only needs a food source to keep the nitrifying microbes alive until the tank gets fish. Without knowing the other water parameters (like Andy ask for) I don't understand why the nitrItes are not changing. I must be missing something in the OP.
"I have been cycling my 20 gallon for over 2 months and I can't get my nitrites to lower. I have done water changes and added Dr. Tims one and only and my nitrites still very purple."