It's just not?

[Goldfish4EVER]

I think my 3 week old cycling aquarium is doing fine, as it has 1 ppm ammonia and nitrite. But it still doesn't have nitrate yet, should I worry about it? I'm not sure when nitrates are suppose to come. Any help is appreciated!

 

[AtomicFish]

Oh my gosh it’s only 3 weeks old. I maybe mistaken but I think it can take up to months for tank to properly cycle. Is there anything in the tank yet?

 

[Essjay]

Has the nitrite level dropped at all? Nitrite is converted to nitrate and if nitrite has not dropped, there aren't enough nitrite eaters yet to make nitrate.

 

[Goldfish4EVER]

The nitrite levels rised a little bit higher. On the first week, it was 0ppm nitrite. On the second week, it was 0.25ppm nitrite. now, it's around 0.50-1 ppm nitrite.

 

[Essjay]

The fact that nitrite had not dropped is probably the reason there is no nitrate. Until there are enough nitrite eaters to remove nitrite, there will be no nitrate made in the tank.

 

[Goldfish4EVER]

How should I reduce nitrite?

 

[Essjay]

Nitrite is reduced by doing water changes, as many as necessary to keep the level down to just about zero. During the next few weeks, bacteria will grow which 'eat' nitrite, and they turn it into nitrate. As more and more of these nitrite eaters grow, the level of nitrite in the water will go up slower and slower until it finally stays at zero.

 

[Boundava]

How should I reduce nitrite?

If you're cycling you don't want to reduce nitrites. As mentioned, you want the nitrites to increase in order to encourage the growth of the bacteria that feasts on it and turns it into nitrates. Once you have zero ammonia and zero nitrites and have nitrates then you have a cycle. Only then do you do a water change to reduce the amount of nitrates in the water.

 

[Essjay]

Nitrite is reduced by doing water changes, as many as necessary to keep the level down to just about zero. During the next few weeks, bacteria will grow which 'eat' nitrite, and they turn it into nitrate. As more and more of these nitrite eaters grow, the level of nitrite in the water will go up slower and slower until it finally stays at zero.

I should have mentioned that water changes are only needed when there are fish in the tank.
Is this a fishless cycle or a cycle with fish? If it's fishless, Boundava is correct, you don't need to do water changes until the cycle is finished. It's only when there are fish in the tank that you need to stop nitrite building up.

 

[10 Tanks]

I think my 3 week old cycling aquarium is doing fine, as it has 1 ppm ammonia and nitrite. But it still doesn't have nitrate yet, should I worry about it? I'm not sure when nitrates are suppose to come. Any help is appreciated!

Hi Gold. Standard cycling takes many weeks, so I'm told. I cycled my first tank with some hardy fish. I just changed half the tank water a couple of times a week for the first few weeks. Then, half the water weekly. I'm one that wants to enjoy fish right away. Of course, I prefer much larger tanks. So much more "wiggle room" if you make a mistake in tank management!

10 Tanks