question on tank cycling

D

DebbyLynn

AC Members
Feb 6, 2005
14
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0
Colorado
I am in the 5th week of my cycling. My ammonia is now zero and the nitrite has been 2.0 for a few days and the nitrates have been around 7.0. Is this normal for those to both be up? I have read that the nitrites should go down before the nitrates go up. Any advice is appreciated.

Thank you
 
Are there fish in the tank or is this fishless cycling? If there are fish in the tank I would be doing a water change to get that nitrite down to less tan 0.25ppm right away.

As for the nitrates, well it would seem that you have some bacteria eating nitrites just not enough. And as they eat it they will produce nitrates, which if you don't change the water will continue to grow.
 
hi again. ok I did a water change and the nitrites and nitrates are still the same on my testing. I do have some fish in the tank and they are all doing great. I can't figure out why the nitrites will not zero out like the ammonia did. How long does it usually take? Seems like the ammonia took about a week. Should I wait another week on the nitrites?

Thank you again for any replies.

:)
 
How large of a water change did you do? It will need to be big enough to get the nitrites low. That may mean 50% water change. If the levels are still not egtting low enough try adding some NaCl to the tank, table salt will do fine. Add 1 tsp per gallon of water. First dissolve it slowly in some change water and add the water a bit at a time over the next few hours. The salt will help prtect the fish's gills from the nitrite.
 
The bacteria that change nitrites to nitrates are slower to reproduce than those that change ammonia to nitrites. Nitrates will continue to rise because the only two ways to get rid of them are water changes and/or live plants. My guess is that your tank is very close to finishing the cycle.
 
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