Did i mess up my watercycle?

[Bradicalink]

So I have multiple questions.

First I used Dr. Tim's one and only on my 13.5 evo. Stupid stoner moment though I forgot to take out my mechanical filtration and didn't get my water temp up high enough. My parameters are been sitting stagnant for almost a week. So should I just do a 50% water change or more and start over? Using think its natures oceans live black sand and dry rock from two LFS.

Secondly I wash my hands with antibacterial soap a lot. Like a lot a lot(tattoo artist). Would me sticking my hands in the tank have any effect on the water. I do use almost scalding hot water to rinse and rinse very thoroughly.

 

[Azedenkae]

Actually your cycle is looking good. Ammonia is going down, while nitrite spiked and seems to also be going down. I mean it is hard to differentiate nitrite colors so might be a bit hard to be 100% sure, but imo it is probably progressing. Issue is nitrite-oxidizers reproduce slowly so probably is just taking time for them to establish.

Re: anti-bacterial soap - maybe but I doubt it. Given you rinse your hands, even if there is a bit that get into the tank it would be heavily diluted and probably won't have much of an effect.

 

[tc3driver]

What nitrate test are you using? Actually what tests are you using for all of your parameters? I would be expecting to see at least some nitrate there at this point with nitrites going down.

Of course there is always the factor of human error in the administration of the tests ( I flub tests all the time).

Most of all, just be patient, the tank will cycle... let them bacteria eat, drink, and multiply

 

[Bradicalink]

What nitrate test are you using? Actually what tests are you using for all of your parameters? I would be expecting to see at least some nitrate there at this point with nitrites going down.

Of course there is always the factor of human error in the administration of the tests ( I flub tests all the time).

Most of all, just be patient, the tank will cycle... let them bacteria eat, drink, and multiply

I was told by a employee at the LFS that as long as nitrites were present they would throw a false positive on the nitrates. I've been using the API saltwater master test kit. My hanna nitrate tester arrived today but I'm at work till after midnight. I have the Hanna PH tester as well. Being an artist the color tests kits mess with me because I want a perfect match. And thats almost never, lol But ill test the nitrates when I get off tonight.

 

[Azedenkae]

I was told by a employee at the LFS that as long as nitrites were present they would throw a false positive on the nitrates. I've been using the API saltwater master test kit. My hanna nitrate tester arrived today but I'm at work till after midnight. I have the Hanna PH tester as well. Being an artist the color tests kits mess with me because I want a perfect match. And thats almost never, lol But ill test the nitrates when I get off tonight.

You (and your LFS) are correct, when nitrite is present it interferes with the nitrate test so measuring nitrate can be a bit moot. At one point I measured '120ppm nitrate' when nitrite was above 10 or so, so yeah kinda pointless to measure nitrate at this point. Unless you know how much nitrite interferes with the nitrate test.

 

[tc3driver]

I was told by a employee at the LFS that as long as nitrites were present they would throw a false positive on the nitrates. I've been using the API saltwater master test kit. My hanna nitrate tester arrived today but I'm at work till after midnight. I have the Hanna PH tester as well. Being an artist the color tests kits mess with me because I want a perfect match. And thats almost never, lol But ill test the nitrates when I get off tonight.

The Employee is not wrong, however 0 would be a a null test vs the false positive. I know that the API Nitrate test is a bit if a bear, you have to do it just right or it doesn't work at all. The Hanna one is even more of a bear (most of the nitrate tests are a bit if a bear). Make sure to follow the directions exactily. With the API you do have to shake the second part for 30 seconds then shake the vile for a minute after adding the second part... then let it sit for 5 minutes before actually trying to read the color. If you don't do that the test will never read correctly.

The Hanna is just a process. A pain in the butt process but a process none the less

 

[jarviz]

Secondly I wash my hands with antibacterial soap a lot. Like a lot a lot(tattoo artist). Would me sticking my hands in the tank have any effect on the water. I do use almost scalding hot water to rinse and rinse very thoroughly.

you don't need to wash your hands that thoroughly all the time like it's covid. Just make sure you don't have any major chemicals on you. like lotion or cooking oil. Sometimes i don't even wash my hands before putting it in as long as i know i have touched anything serious before. And i only have a 10gallon.

 

[Bradicalink]

you don't need to wash your hands that thoroughly all the time like it's covid. Just make sure you don't have any major chemicals on you. like lotion or cooking oil. Sometimes i don't even wash my hands before putting it in as long as i know i have touched anything serious before. And i only have a

So I have multiple questions.

First I used Dr. Tim's one and only on my 13.5 evo. Stupid stoner moment though I forgot to take out my mechanical filtration and didn't get my water temp up high enough. My parameters are been sitting stagnant for almost a week. So should I just do a 50% water change or more and start over? Using think its natures oceans live black sand and dry rock from two LFS.

Secondly I wash my hands with antibacterial soap a lot. Like a lot a lot(tattoo artist). Would me sticking my hands in the tank have any effect on the water. I do use almost scalding hot water to rinse and rinse very thoroughly.

No changes still and the hanna ph tester is showing 8.6 as of an hr ago. I've been testing the nitrates just to see what they are showing. Apparently I'm gonna have to watch a YouTube video on using the Hanna nitrate tester, geez I didn't expect all that.