Where have all my nitrates gone?

Astro

Astro

AC Members
May 16, 2006
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I am partway through fishless cycling a new tank, filled from the tap 11 days ago.

I have been adding ammonia at about 5ppm/day and checking the ammonia and nitrIte levels daily. Ammonia is now zero, nitrItes are beginning to drop (readings went up to the max reading - 3.3ppm, now are about 1.2ppm). All very good :dance:

On day 6, I got a NitrAte test kit by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals. The tank had 60ppm - I knew the nitrates should increase, but was surprised at how much there was, so tested the tap water. I was shocked to find the tap read 20ppm - but checking the forum found that this was not unusual, and then found a report from my water authority confirming that nitrates were in the 15-30ppm range here. Ok.

I assumed that nitrates would build and build, everyone says the only way to eliminate them is water change. I thought there was not much point monitoring them on a daily basis, so didn't check till today.

Day 11: Nitrates = 5ppm!!!! Tested twice to be sure. Then tested the tap water again to check my test kit and procedure was ok - tap read 25ppm.

So where have my nitrates gone???? Overall I guess this is a good thing for the prospective fishies, but would like to know what's going on in case this is a sign of some problem.

I have an Aqua One Aquastyle 980 214 litre (45 gallon?) tank which has a over head filter with ceramic noodles, sponges and carbon filters.

Thanks in advance for any insights
 
there are no live plants yet - I understood that this could interfere with the cycling, so intend to plant after it has settled. I have mainly had the lights off for the tank, so there is only a touch of algae on some of the pottery and sponges that I put in to seed the tank with bacteria. Pretty much 'no' on the algae.
 
Hmmm, that is strange. I would take the samples of water to the fish store and have them test to make sure your test kit isn't bad
 
I'll take some water to a LFS to check my results.

I noticed something else, with the NitrIte test: It says to take a reading 2 minutes after adding the chemicals. At that point today, the reading was .8ppm. But after 8 minutes, the colour had faded more, so it looked like .2ppm. Should the colour fade that quickly? or do I have something in the water which is bleaching my test colours?
 
Contaminated tubes?
 
are you using dip strips?

i reccomend a liquid test kit like the one from Aquarium Pharmasuticals. they cost a little bit more initially, but you get a lot more tests and they are more accurate.

http://www.petsmart.com/global/prod...1155444142646&itemNo=1&In=Fish&N=2030068&Ne=2

in the little drop box, select the freshwater master test kit for $13.49 in the drop down menue, print out the page, and take it to your local petsmart to have them price match it.
 
Hi RockabillyChick, I am using those very liquid drop tests, and following the instructions thoroughly.

Rbishop - I always rinse the tubes and lids carefully in tap water, and make sure they have dried before re-use. Also the tests on tapwater seem consistent and correct.

:confused:
 
Any chance that your first test for nitrates on day 6 was done wrong, giving you an ill fated comparison to day 11?
 
Day 6 tests were conducted with brand new test kit and the procedure followed very carefully - but I have no way of checking! Did a NitrAte reading again today, it still read 5ppm - but this is lower than the tap water, and the tank was filled with water. Plus the bacteria should be making more NitrAtes...
 
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