I Know I've Asked This B4...but

[rgrrmg]

I just saw the post about the guys tank looking horrible, in this post one person mentioned that 1PPM ammonia becomes 2.5PPM of nitrite.
If this is the case, can anyone explain why I am in day 15 of my fish-less cycle I can add 2.5ml of ammonia in the morning, the next morning (24 hrs.) there is 0PPM ammonia.What I can't figure out is why my nitrite reads at 2PPM every morning...my PH is 7.5PPM, nitrates ~4.0PPM

Thanks

 

[discus_lover]

you should do a partial water change to keep your nitrite down..

 

[JD Huskey]

you should do a partial water change to keep your nitrite down..

I wouldn't do a water change, will just leave less nitrite for the bacteria to feed on and multiply. Not like there is any fish in there to be hurt by it. The nitrite eating bacteria take longer to colonize so it will take longer to see your nitrites being used as efficiently as your ammonia.

 

[simb07]

I just saw the post about the guys tank looking horrible, in this post one person mentioned that 1PPM ammonia becomes 2.5PPM of nitrite.
If this is the case, can anyone explain why I am in day 15 of my fish-less cycle I can add 2.5ml of ammonia in the morning, the next morning (24 hrs.) there is 0PPM ammonia.What I can't figure out is why my nitrite reads at 2PPM every morning...my PH is 7.5PPM, nitrates ~4.0PPM

Thanks

Hi, That is correct, I cant remember the exact ppm from Ammonia to NitrIte but it's certainly more than a 1:1 ratio.
A few things to consider..... how big is your tank ? do you have any zeolite in your filter ( this could be eating the Ammonia rather than the colony of A-bacs you are trying to establish )? have you added any kind of chemical to your tank other than the Ammonia ? ammo-loc for instance ? what test kit are you using ?
If indeed it is the good bacteria eating the Ammonia then you should as you suggest see the Nitrite levels rise.
Hope this helps
Simb07

 

[waterdrop]

I just saw the post about the guys tank looking horrible, in this post one person mentioned that 1PPM ammonia becomes 2.5PPM of nitrite.
If this is the case, can anyone explain why I am in day 15 of my fish-less cycle I can add 2.5ml of ammonia in the morning, the next morning (24 hrs.) there is 0PPM ammonia.What I can't figure out is why my nitrite reads at 2PPM every morning...my PH is 7.5PPM, nitrates ~4.0PPM

Thanks

Hi rgrrmg!

The answer is simple! The resulting nitrite is not "just sitting there" waiting for you to measure it, instead, its being steadily converted to nitrate(NO3) which is then hanging nearer to the gravel and filter media, making it harder to measure with any accuracy and is notoriously hard to measure accurately -anyway-, even if you were a good analytical chemist with a good lab, much less a hobbyist with two little room temperature reagents and a small test tube!!

So the 1ppm of ammonia is processed into 2.7ppm of nitrite and then into 3.6 ppm of nitrate, but you are only ever taking "snapshots" of this continuous process and you have no idea how many microscopic "processors" are at work down there doing the converting!

Hope that helps
~~waterdrop~~

 

[rgrrmg]

Thanks for all the Info., BTW this is a 12 gallon tank, and I'm using API Master Freshwater test kit.
Also I'm not adding chemicals of any kind except ammonia every 24 hrs.

 

[waterdrop]

Well, you sound quite normal for a Day 15 fishless cycle. You've got some A-Bacs and they are more numerous and doing more processing than your N-Bacs, who are doing some processing but not enough to drop all the nitrite coming in and the A-Bac biofilm colonies have not yet reached the size where they produce so much nitrite(NO2) that they overwhelm the N-Bacs and a "nitrite spike" is seen when you test. You're solidly in the first of the 3 phases of fishless cycling, looks like to me...

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rgrrmg]

Well, you sound quite normal for a Day 15 fishless cycle. You've got some A-Bacs and they are more numerous and doing more processing than your N-Bacs, who are doing some processing but not enough to drop all the nitrite coming in and the A-Bac biofilm colonies have not yet reached the size where they produce so much nitrite(NO2) that they overwhelm the N-Bacs and a "nitrite spike" is seen when you test. You're solidly in the first of the 3 phases of fishless cycling, looks like to me...

~~waterdrop~~

Thank, I'll just keeping testing and adding Ammonia every 24 hrs.

 

[waterdrop]

Well, you sound quite normal for a Day 15 fishless cycle. You've got some A-Bacs and they are more numerous and doing more processing than your N-Bacs, who are doing some processing but not enough to drop all the nitrite coming in and the A-Bac biofilm colonies have not yet reached the size where they produce so much nitrite(NO2) that they overwhelm the N-Bacs and a "nitrite spike" is seen when you test. You're solidly in the first of the 3 phases of fishless cycling, looks like to me...

~~waterdrop~~

Thank, I'll just keeping testing and adding Ammonia every 24 hrs.

By which I assume you're using shorthand for "I'll add ammonia at my 24-hour "add-hour" if and only if ammonia dropped all the way to zero ppm within the previous 24 hours." Right, lol?

~~waterdrop~~

 

[rgrrmg]

Well, you sound quite normal for a Day 15 fishless cycle. You've got some A-Bacs and they are more numerous and doing more processing than your N-Bacs, who are doing some processing but not enough to drop all the nitrite coming in and the A-Bac biofilm colonies have not yet reached the size where they produce so much nitrite(NO2) that they overwhelm the N-Bacs and a "nitrite spike" is seen when you test. You're solidly in the first of the 3 phases of fishless cycling, looks like to me...

~~waterdrop~~

Thank, I'll just keeping testing and adding Ammonia every 24 hrs.

By which I assume you're using shorthand for "I'll add ammonia at my 24-hour "add-hour" if and only if ammonia dropped all the way to zero ppm within the previous 24 hours." Right, lol?

~~waterdrop~~

Right

 

[OldMan47]

You are smack dab in the middle of your nitrite spike and it is so high that you can't begin to measure it. When you first add the drops, they seem to just turn purple but as you mix things the color never really develops. That means the nitrite is just too high for the test to work. When it gets back down around 30 or 40 ppm, you may see some reaction that looks like a strong color sort of like the 5 ppm color.

 

[rgrrmg]

You are smack dab in the middle of your nitrite spike and it is so high that you can't begin to measure it. When you first add the drops, they seem to just turn purple but as you mix things the color never really develops. That means the nitrite is just too high for the test to work. When it gets back down around 30 or 40 ppm, you may see some reaction that looks like a strong color sort of like the 5 ppm color.

Thanks OM that helps, and really gives me something to look forward to. I'd like to get through this and add some fish, I'm getting tired of looking at an empty aquarium.