Fishless Cycle & Nitrates

jojomuscles said:
Yes, the color is a deep purple when I add the drops for the nitrite test...I was trying to make a connection with possible high nitrites with low nitrates. If there were no nitrites in the water, then why would the blue drops immediately turn purple, then fade back to light blue 5 minutes later? My test strips also show an extremely high nitrite level, which is also why I question the validity of the liquid test. BTW, my nitrates on the liquid test consistantly read 5ppm....even after shaking bottle #2 and the vial for several minutes each. If my ammonia and nitrites spiked and then dropped to zero, shouldn't my nitrates have shot up really high?
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As previously stated throughout this thread, you have to follow the test directions to get accurate results. With API's liquid FW nitrites test, the color is checked five minutes after adding the reagent and shaking the vial. Not immediately after adding the drops, and not some unspecified amount of time later. Reading it early or late will give you incorrect results.
 
Extremely high nitrite will return a false zero value. Get some DI water and dilute your aquarium water sample something like 10 to 1 or more. Then test for nitrite again. If your nitrite is above 5 ppm you need to change water to get it down or the cycle may be stuck for while
 
I did a big water change last night(midnight), probably about 75% and then added enough ammonia to bring it up to about 4ppm. This morning at 8:00 I tested...

Ammonia: 1.0 ppm
Nitrites: 5.0 ppm
Nitrates: 5.0 ppm

I'll test again after work today and post my results. Any comments regarding these initial results?
 
Well, after 8 hours it did get the Ammonia down to 1.0ppm so that part is looking good... and that last 1.0ppm should be down to 0.0ppm when you get home. If the nitrites are also down to 0.0ppm when you get home, you should be good to go BUT I'd dose it up to 4ppm one more time and make sure it's cycling through all of the ammonia in 12-24 hours. If it is... then you're ready for your fish. Just do another 50% PWC and make sure you acclimate your fish slowly and properly.

If you're not getting your fish right away, continue to dose the tank daily with 4.0ppm of ammonia to keep it cycling then on the day before you are getting your fish, do the large PWC (up to 90%) with dechlored water, of course, and you can add fish the next day. You do want to run the fresh tap water for a while to make sure it stabilizes and outgasses any excess gases and ingasses any O2 or CO2 it may need to stabilize.
 
Wow, thanks to everyone for the great information...you have all been very helpful.

Undatow - i'm using an aquatech 20-40, but will be adding a sponge filter soon.
 
Ok, I retested again tonight at 8:00pm and the only difference is that the ammonia is down...nitrites and nitrates remain unchanged.

Ammonia: 0
Nitrites: 5.0
Nitrates: 5.0

Should I dose again with half the ammonia until the nitrites come down?
 
Well.. dose the ammonia again to at least 3-4ppm, no more than 5ppm and keep on testing every day. You're not there yet. I kind of didn't think you'd be there after just a couple of weeks but there have been exceptions to the 4-6 week rule. Do you have any notes of when you actually started fishless cycling?
 
I started on the 16th, and because there is a lot of conflicting information out there, I ended up adding like 6 tablespoons of ammonia on the first day. After realizing that this was a mistake, I had to do several water changes to bring the ammonia back down to a readable level. Since then, I have been consistant, but did not keep a journal like I should have. I will continue dosing with ammonia and keep a journal...i'll post my results next week. Thanks again for your help!
 
If you're nice and really want to speed things up, go to this thread http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=233550 and PM DocTim and if he hasn't already given away all of his "free samples" that he offered in that thread, he might just send you a bottle of Dr. Tim's One And Only which will instantly cycle your tank. Of course, you're already mostly there and doing a fishless cycle is a REALLY good way to learn the basic nitrogen cycle stuff and learn how your test kit works.... but if you want to get your fish in a couple of days, then Dr. Tim's One And Only is definitely one way to go. http://www.DrTimsAquatics.com click on the Fishless Cycling gold button on the left side for more info.
 
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