BlueIn2Red
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
- Joined
- Feb 9, 2023
- Messages
- 13
Hi guys,
I’m currently fishless cycling my first aquarium, a 100 litre tropical tank. I thought my thousands of hours of research was enough, but apparently not, so please read on!
The tank is quite heavily planted, and the plants are doing well. I have been water testing daily and feeding Dr Tim’s ammonia as necessary. I also added some API QuikStart at the beginning, and have added a bit more after one week. I am just over two weeks in so far, and the tank has reached what to me seems like a strange equilibrium - I can “feed” 5ml of ammonia one day (resulting in a test reading of 4ppm), and the next day the ammonia level will be zero (so presumably the good bacteria are doing their thing), nitrates will be zero (I assume consumed by the plants?), but nitrites are consistently at 2ppm. I have done no water changes so far, only a couple of small evaporation top ups.
Obviously I need to get the nitrite level lower. Do I just need to wait to give the bacteria more time to grow? I’m a little confused that nitrites aren’t turning to nitrates, or perhaps they are and the plants are consuming the nitrates before I can get a test reading? I am not in any rush to add fish, but want to be sure I’m doing the right things in the meantime.
Thanks in advance!
I’m currently fishless cycling my first aquarium, a 100 litre tropical tank. I thought my thousands of hours of research was enough, but apparently not, so please read on!
The tank is quite heavily planted, and the plants are doing well. I have been water testing daily and feeding Dr Tim’s ammonia as necessary. I also added some API QuikStart at the beginning, and have added a bit more after one week. I am just over two weeks in so far, and the tank has reached what to me seems like a strange equilibrium - I can “feed” 5ml of ammonia one day (resulting in a test reading of 4ppm), and the next day the ammonia level will be zero (so presumably the good bacteria are doing their thing), nitrates will be zero (I assume consumed by the plants?), but nitrites are consistently at 2ppm. I have done no water changes so far, only a couple of small evaporation top ups.
Obviously I need to get the nitrite level lower. Do I just need to wait to give the bacteria more time to grow? I’m a little confused that nitrites aren’t turning to nitrates, or perhaps they are and the plants are consuming the nitrates before I can get a test reading? I am not in any rush to add fish, but want to be sure I’m doing the right things in the meantime.
Thanks in advance!