How Odd - Nitrite Reading

[Frankie07]

Hi...

I purchased a Fluval chi (25Lt) the other day as they do a lid for it now and I want to house a Betta in it.

Anyway I set it up and on day 1, I added a squeeze from existing media and added Sechem Stability to aid the cycle ( I have used this product in the past with great results) Day 2 added some more media squeeze to the tank and Stability dose.

Day 3 (yesterday) added Stability dose in the evening I tested for Am = 0 and to my big surprse the Nitrite reading was 0.5 ..? how can this be.. No Fish in tank but put a Java on lava from another tank.

Using API Test kit (new) Tested on my other tanks to check and it's fine.

Any thoughts.....

Well today Nitrite still at 0.5.....??

 

[jetajockey]

One thing I've noticed when transferring media is that the nitrite => nitrate bacteria often lags, not sure if it's due to its sensitivity or what exactly, but it happens pretty regularly.

 

[Frankie07]

Hi

I tested for Nitrate and it is about 10... Not sure what to do..?

 

[jetajockey]

Were you fishless cycling the tank? Did you add anything to the tank other than the media squeezing and stability?

 

[Frankie07]

Was going to cycle with fish using the stability method, nothing else in tank except Java plant from another established tank.

It's only day 4 since set-up.

 

[jetajockey]

Did you test your source water for nitrites or ammonia? If all is good there then I'd just consider it a fluke and see what happens. If you plan to fish-in cycle then just keep a small level of salt in the tank until the nitrites are completely gone.

 

[Frankie07]

Yes tap water is zero on both.

This morning Reading for Nitrite is still 0.5. Should I do a water change then add salt and fish.

Or can I do a fishless cycle from this, but I wouldn't know where to start..?

 

[jetajockey]

If it were me and I was adding just a single betta I'd do a big WC, add a pinch of salt and let it rock, but if you wanted to go fishless you'd just start dosing (and redosing as needed) ammonia and wait for both it and the nitrites to 0 out within a 24 hour period before you add fish.

 

[melosu58]

Moved to FW General discussion.

 

[Frankie07]

Going to do a Fishless cycle with ammonia to expidite the cycle.

I emailed Seachem and their reply as follows:-

You tank is probably cycling as a result of squeezing your old media into your new tank. The old media most likely has a lot of organic detritus on it, which is feeding the bacteria in Stability causing it to move through the cycle. Also, since you already have a nitrite and nitrate reading, you may not see an ammonia spike. The Java fern is also acting as a natural biological filter by consuming the ammonia, helping to move through the cycle faster. I would continue adding the Stability daily until you have fully cycled (only have a nitrate reading). You have a couple of options. You can add your betta to the tank, but make sure that you are adding Prime every other day in order to keep him safe from nitrite toxicity or you can wait until the cycle is finished and then add the betta. Either way, he should be just fine.

 

[librarygirl]

If the tank is small for a single betta, you could dose ammonia to 2 instead of 4. Whatever you do though you should add some ammonia source to that tank very soon or else any bacteria you have in there from your filter squeezings is going to die off from lack of food.

I suspect the nitrite reading is from the Stability but that's just a guess. If you're going to cycle fishless there's really no need to use that stuff but it's up to you.

Do you have an existing cycled tank? If so you could just pull a small amount of media from your tank, put it into the filter for the betta tank and add a Betta. Discontinue the Stability and just test the water daily and do water changes if you see any spikes.

 

[Frankie07]

I started adding ammonia yesterday and dosed at 4ppm. Tonights readings are Ammonia 4.0 and Nitrite 1.0.

Should I continue dosing at 4 or reduce to 2.

Not done a fishless cycle before this is my first attempt...

Yes I have 2 other cycled tanks, but the there is no room in the chi filter to add anything.