Cant seen to combat my nitrite

R

rcaterin1

Hmmm.. What to say
Jan 12, 2006
292
0
0
40
edmonton,alberta
i am cycling my 40 gal and i cant seem to keep me nitrite under control... when i started i added some decor, rocks and the bio filter from another tank to this tank and it took only 2 days for the ammonia to read zero..... now i am seeing nitrites (.25 to .50 ppm)... i know this is normal to see because i have no ammonia reading.... but even after 2 25% water changes already today... the nitrite is still at .25ppm... also i am getting 5 to 10 ppm of nitrate....

so my question is... is this all normal..... does it take long for nitrite consuming bacteria to appear??

thanks
 
it can take a few weeks to fully cyle - i.e. to get stable 0 on nitrites and ammonia, and nitrate only showing on tests. you obviously have some of the bacteria present - presuming you are not adding to the bioload by overfeeding/failing to remove dead vegetation or adding fish while cycling you are very nearly done.

meanwhile if there are fish in there you need to keep up on the water changes whenever you are showing nitrite at .25 ppm or higher.

what test kit do you use ?
 
Have you tested the nitrite level in your tap water? This is possibly where the nitrite is coming from.

If there is no nitrite in your tap water, you may be performing the test incorrectly, or you may have a faulty or out of date test kit.

Do you have another test kit you could check it with?

It is not scientifically possible to perform water changes with nitrite-free water, and for the nitrite level to stay the same.
 
i have tested the water... 0 ppm nitrite... um i followed the instructions pretty carefully... i mean its take some tank water and add 5 drops on the nitrite tester..... i have had the kit for about 2 years.. maybe thats the problem.... does anyone recommend a good test kit.... do the strips work well
 
strips are pretty inaccurate. every time you open the little bottle they are exposed to the moisture in the air, which reacts with them a little bit every time and screws up your test results. Aquarium Pharmeceuticals is a good brand of liquid tests, and if you search online (Big Al's for you, probably) you should be able to find a good price on a master test kit, which will have everything you need in one box.
 
2 years is probably too old. Generally, test kits should be replaced every 6 - 12 months. After that time, they can become less accurate.

Avoid dip-strips, they are pretty inaccurate generally, and they don't test for ammonia.

pH of 7.2 is fine and shouldn't cause any problems for most fish.
 
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