Cycling question

[freecorb]

i am doing a fish in cycle. Tank is 15 days in. Put 3 orange platties in 8 days ago along with lots of plants. Been doing regular water checks with API master test kit. Did first 25 % water change yesterday Ammonia has been around 0.3. Just checked today and reads are PH 7.5. Amm 0.5 Nitrite 0.5 Nitrate 7ppm

Initially I thought the cycle was near completion but I’ve just checked nitrate level in my tap water and the read is around 15 to 20 ? Bit confused. I followed the instructions to the letter but maybe I made an error in the reading ? Is it possible to have a higher level of nitrate in tap water than my tank water ?


John

 

[seangee]

Hi John
I'm afraid to say your cycle is still in the early stage. My experience of fish in cycling (haven't done this for many years) is that it takes 8 - 12 weeks and there is no real way of speeding this up. The fact that you have nitrite means the process has started but phase one is only complete when your ammonia drops to zero. Phase 2 is complete when the nitrite drops to zero and only then will your nitrates start going up.

Your biggest challenge right now is that ammonia and nitrite are deadly to fish in any concentration above zero, so you should be changing your water daily to keep it down and don't worry about nitrates until you have zero nitrite.

If you have plants in your tank the nitrate reduction is easily explained. Your filter is not producing any yet and the plants are consuming it. If you don't have plants I suggest you get some fast growing floating plants because they also help reduce ammonia. There are other possible explanations but right now you should concentrate on ammonia and nitrites.