The Q-tank questions - Part II

chrisinha said:
how high should nitrites go? wasn't 5 ppm of nitrites enough?
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Nope. It's not like the ammonia. The nitrites build as high as they have to, then cut back. See what's happening is the abcteria that convert ammonia into nitrites had to build. You are obviously getting those now. What happens next is the bacteria that convert nitrite to nitrate have to build. You really are not adding nitrite, just letting the bacteria convert it, so whatever the bacteria do, you are sort of stuck with until they grow to a large enough colony to convert all of that nitrite into nitrate. There really is no "right level" of nitrite.
 
ACK!
this drives me nuts! how will i know when the tank is cycled completely? i mean... if i keep putting ammonia... :rolleyes:

*feels like dumb now*
 
chrisinha said:
ACK!
this drives me nuts! how will i know when the tank is cycled completely? i mean... if i keep putting ammonia... :rolleyes:

*feels like dumb now*
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Ahh, no worries, we all have to learn about this stuff. Took me a while to figure it all out too.

When your tank can take your dose of 5ppm ammonia and convert it to Ammonia 0, NitrItes 0, and NitrAtes somewhere in the vicinity of 10 ppm, you are cycled.
 
Harlock said:
Ahh, no worries, we all have to learn about this stuff. Took me a while to figure it all out too.

When your tank can take your dose of 5ppm ammonia and convert it to Ammonia 0, NitrItes 0, and NitrAtes somewhere in the vicinity of 10 ppm, you are cycled.
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i see... but in what period of time? i mean, how fast should the tank be able to convert the 5 ppm dose into ammonia 0, nitrItes 0 and nitrAtes around 10 ppm? in 1 hour? 2 hours? 24 hours?
Sorry if i'm asking too many questions... :o i already feel horrible...
 
err... nitrItes are 5 ppm now. Ammonia 0. Do i keep dosing back ammonia? I guess my nitrItes bacteria are too lazy to take care of it... :rolleyes:
 
Yes, dose ammonia back to 5ppm once a day. The bacteria that convert nitrites to nitrates are a little slower to develop. There is of course, no set formula, but most folks say it takes about twice as long to get nitrites to zero in 24 hours as it did for the ammonia.
 
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