Nitrites nonexistent in cycle so far

[phillyb614]

Tank has been cycling for a week now. This is where I’m currently at.

Ammonia- .50
Nitrite- 0
PH- 8
Nitrate- 10

My nitrite has been a solid 0 since I started testing, while ammonia and nitrate levels have both nudged up a bit. Would my nitrite staying at 0 have anything to do with the media, rock, and sand I used from my established tank? Is the ammonia just being processed into nitrate so fast that the nitrite isn’t registering?

 

[gbroadbridge]

Tank has been cycling for a week now. This is where I’m currently at.

Ammonia- .50
Nitrite- 0
PH- 8
Nitrate- 10

My nitrite has been a solid 0 since I started testing, while ammonia and nitrate levels have both nudged up a bit. Would my nitrite staying at 0 have anything to do with the media, rock, and sand I used from my established tank? Is the ammonia just being processed into nitrate so fast that the nitrite isn’t registering?

You do not need to measure Nitrite.

If Nitrate is rising and Ammonia is decreasing all is progressing well.

 

[Dan_P]

Tank has been cycling for a week now. This is where I’m currently at.

Ammonia- .50
Nitrite- 0
PH- 8
Nitrate- 10

My nitrite has been a solid 0 since I started testing, while ammonia and nitrate levels have both nudged up a bit. Would my nitrite staying at 0 have anything to do with the media, rock, and sand I used from my established tank? Is the ammonia just being processed into nitrate so fast that the nitrite isn’t registering?

Sounds like you are starting with live everything. Did you add ammonia? If not, the presence of ammonia and nitrate might mean there is a die-off going on that is not quite being handled by the live stuff.

 

[phillyb614]

I didn’t add any Dr. Tim’s ammonium chloride. I did add some Fritz turbo start and I have been adding a cube of brine shrimp daily since I started. This is a fishless cycle btw. I just ordered some Dr. Tim’s online, in case ghost feeding the tank isn’t creating enough ammonia.


Ammonia and nitrate have both gone up a bit over the last couple of days. Ammonia from 0.25 to 0.50 and nitrates from 5 to 10.

The items I added from my established tank (been running for about 4 years now) was a small bag, maybe 10 pieces, of biomax, a small rock (majority of the rock in the display is new), and just a cup of sand (again, most of the sand is new. Which is 40 lbs of live sand).

 

[taricha]

I did add some Fritz turbo start and I have been adding a cube of brine shrimp daily since I started.

That offers a slow release of ammonia from the food breakdown. The media/rock/sand + Fritz is probably fast enough to keep the produced ammonia and nitrite - NO2 processed away to NO3.


Assuming you can be sure that Nitrate - NO3 is increased from the initial value - then you can be confident that nitrifying bacteria are active and keeping up with the load.

 

[BristleWormHater]

Unless you stood there testing every few minutes it is completely reasonable to say there were nitrites but they were converted to nitrate before you tested.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

I agree that the tank is very likely cycling, but without measuring nitrate, it is not proven, IMO.

 

[phillyb614]

Good stuff! Thank you all for taking the time to give me your wisdom. I plan to post my test results on here for the next few days. Any of you following along would be appreciated. This is only my second cycle.

 

[phillyb614]

Test results today are the same as yesterday.

Ammonia- .50
Nitrite- 0
PH- 8
Nitrate- looks like 10 to me. Possibly between 10 and 20?

Added another cube of brine shrimp this morning.

Bottle of Dr. Tim’s ammonium chloride will be here tomorrow. Should I hold off on adding some of this? Thoughts and advice would be much appreciated.

 

[phillyb614]

It is now day 9 of my cycle. Test results today are as follows.

Ammonia- 0.25
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20
PH- 8

Ammonia has never been higher than .50. Nitrite has never shown up in a test. Nitrate has been sitting at or around 10-20 for the last 4 days.

Since I have only been using frozen cubes of brine shrimp, I ordered a bottle of Dr. Tim’s. Any thoughts as to whether or not a should add any? There is about 28 gallons of actual water in this 40 gallon tank.

Reminder, I used a bottle of Fritz turbo start on day 2 and I also put cycled media, a cup of established sand, and a cycled rock from my old tank in this cycle.

I am willing to do this as slow as needed. Not trying to rush anything. Just want to do the best fishless cycle I possibly can before adding livestock. Please, give me your advice.

 

[BristleWormHater]

It is now day 9 of my cycle. Test results today are as follows.

Ammonia- 0.25
Nitrite- 0
Nitrate- 20
PH- 8

Ammonia has never been higher than .50. Nitrite has never shown up in a test. Nitrate has been sitting at or around 10-20 for the last 4 days.

Since I have only been using frozen cubes of brine shrimp, I ordered a bottle of Dr. Tim’s. Any thoughts as to whether or not a should add any? There is about 28 gallons of actual water in this 40 gallon tank.

Reminder, I used a bottle of Fritz turbo start on day 2 and I also put cycled media, a cup of established sand, and a cycled rock from my old tank in this cycle.

I am willing to do this as slow as needed. Not trying to rush anything. Just want to do the best fishless cycle I possibly can before adding livestock. Please, give me your advice.

Adding more bacteria won't do any harm but at this point it is likely just a waste of money. Most of your surface area should already be taken up by bacteria, adding more would just result in a lot of dead bacteria forming a biofilm at the waterline.

 

[phillyb614]

Adding more bacteria won't do any harm but at this point it is likely just a waste of money. Most of your surface area should already be taken up by bacteria, adding more would just result in a lot of dead bacteria forming a biofilm at the waterline.

I was toying with the notion of adding some Ammonium Chloride. So, are you saying that would be a waste at this point?

 

[BristleWormHater]

I was toying with the notion of adding some Ammonium Chloride. So, are you saying that would be a waste at this point?

Oh sorry I read Dr Tim's and immediately thought you were referring to the bacteria supplement. I wouldn't do that either, though your tank is clearly cycling so adding more would only prolong the process, on that note if you plan to wait awhile before adding livestock you could dose that so your bacteria has something to feed off of.

 

[phillyb614]

Oh sorry I read Dr Tim's and immediately thought you were referring to the bacteria supplement. I wouldn't do that either, though your tank is clearly cycling so adding more would only prolong the process, on that note if you plan to wait awhile before adding livestock you could dose that so your bacteria has something to feed off of.

Good stuff. Appreciate the input!

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

It’s an easy enough test to add 2 ppm ammonia, see it decline, and declare victory. It might be unnecessary, but is also harmless insurance.