mound
Aquarium Advice Activist
OK - over the past 21 days, I spent the first 14 days doing a fishless cycle on a 125g tank.. It got the point after 14 days where I could put 5ppm NH3 into the tank, and 8 hours later, it would all be gone, and N02 would all be gone. N03 would of course continue to build up...
Since I don't get my fish delivery until today, I continued "feeding" with NH3 to keep the bacteria alive until I was ready to populate the tank.. Kept testing, NH3 and N02 would go back to zero..
Ok - last night comes along, night before my fish order arrives. I do a 50% water change.. Dechlor the new water, add salts/baking soda to get the water paramaters right..
Do test - NH3 of course was at zero, Nitrates are 20ppm, and here's what's bothering me, Nitrites are reading ~0.3ppm.. (if I let the test tube sit for several minutes longer they the kit says, the color eventually turns to the 0ppm.. but having used this test on other established tanks, it shouldn't give a reading and then change to a zero reading if in fact it's zero right?)
Anybody have any idea what's going on here?? Again - there are still no fish in the tank - but they arrive this afternoon..
Thanks
Since I don't get my fish delivery until today, I continued "feeding" with NH3 to keep the bacteria alive until I was ready to populate the tank.. Kept testing, NH3 and N02 would go back to zero..
Ok - last night comes along, night before my fish order arrives. I do a 50% water change.. Dechlor the new water, add salts/baking soda to get the water paramaters right..
Do test - NH3 of course was at zero, Nitrates are 20ppm, and here's what's bothering me, Nitrites are reading ~0.3ppm.. (if I let the test tube sit for several minutes longer they the kit says, the color eventually turns to the 0ppm.. but having used this test on other established tanks, it shouldn't give a reading and then change to a zero reading if in fact it's zero right?)
Anybody have any idea what's going on here?? Again - there are still no fish in the tank - but they arrive this afternoon..
Thanks