New Aquarist Needing Advice!

[JayP]

New readings

Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 0.25
Nitrate 5.0

Water from tap

Ammonia 0.25???
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0

PH 7.4

 

[JayP]

Ammonia 1.0ppm
Nitrite 0.25 ppm
Nitrate 5.0 ppm

Thoughts? Normal? Good sign?

 

[Mamashack]

Hmm they are up and down a bit still aren't they? The last lot are looking better - how much ammonia did you add to get it to 1ppm? Ideally you should be getting it to 2ppm at least some would say 3ppm to get a decent amount of bacteria in there. It might be that your cartridges have now grabbed all the ammonia they can and the rest is now free in the water and going nowhere until the ammonia bacs get up to full strength. There are obviously some there because of the presence of nitrItes and since you have none in your tap-water it must be from the friendly bacteria! Your tank is on the way, my friend, but don't give in to the idea of adding fish just yet - needs to clear both ammonia and nitrItes to 0 in 12-24hrs.

 

[JayP]

Excellent! Thanks for your comments again

When you say clear it? Do you mean I add ammonia and within that time period it get changed into nitrite then nitrates? Do you think I should just take out the ammo lock pads now? Do you think my marina filter will be fit for purpose if I've filled it with normal sponge that seems to be growing the bacteria?

 

[Mamashack]

I personally have no experience with this filter but I can't see that it should be a problem now you've got foam in there. Might be a good idea to take out the ammo lock cartridges since they've grabbed all they can and are just sitting there redundant now. You can add more foam if there's room. You might find the ammonia level rises quicker now so keep an eye on it - don't let it get too high.
By "clearing" I mean that within 12-24hrs of adding enough ammonia to raise the level to 2-3ppm (are you actually achieving that?), your water tests should show ammonia 0ppm and nitrIte 0ppm. It can take a couple of weeks to get this from the stage it appears to be at the moment. You'll find the nitrAtes increasing, but that's a good thing when they do as it means the nitrIte bacs are developing too. No need to worry about a high nitrAte until it gets to about 160ppm then you'll need to do a 75% water change to reduce it or it could cause the cycle to stall. Keep an eye on the pH too as a sudden change in that can stall the cycle too.

 

[JayP]

Ok I'll remove the ammo lock and see how things change. My readings are still the same as last night. My ammonia has never went any higher than 1.0.

Seems like things are progressing though!

Thanks

 

[Bruno]

Still cycling my tanks, so take my advice with a grain of salt, but... Jay I think you are missing an important step - you need to add enough ammonia to get your water up to 2 ppm or even 3 ppm. Add the ammonia, wait 15 or 20 minutes for it to mix into your water and use your test kit to see if you have reached that level. If you haven't add more ammonia and again test 15 minutes later. Once you reach that 2ppm you will have an idea of how much ammonia you need to add each day to keep your bacteria fed.
 
After that is pretty much a waiting game as you feed your tank ammonia each day and monitor your levels, doing a PWC when nitrates and/or ph change enough to warrant it.
 
I did a 75% PWC last night as my nitrite and nitrate readings were off the chart, though ammonia is returning to zero quickly. Even after that large of a water change I still have high nitrites and nitrates, so I will do another large PWC tonight. Like you I am trying to be patient as I wait, but it has made me rethink my filtering, aquascaping, fish choices... so hopefully once my tank is ready I will be a little more prepared then if I had gone out and gotten fish right away.

 

[JayP]

Sound mate! Things are happening now... I think, just done another check after adding ammonia and the reading went up to 3ppm. Think I've got the hang of things now

 

[Mamashack]

Thanks for reinforcing what we've been saying from the get-go Bruno!
I think the low levels Jay's been getting have been due to the ammo-lock cartridges hampering the process and hopefully now they've gone things will proceed as they should.

 

[JayP]

Yeah I know! My heads pickled though, didn't realise it would be so difficult to start with, hopefully it'll be worth it in the end. Staring at an empty tank for five weeks is no fun

 

[JayP]

Well last few days have been busy, seen ammonia peak then nitrite peak then nitrates rise and the other two level out. It seems to be clearing the ammonia after only 9-10 hours so it looks like I'm good to go? Also added more sponge to my filter.

 

[Mamashack]

Sounds like you might be getting there however both ammonia and nitrIte need to be clearing in 12 hrs. for several days, preferably a week, just to be sure it's stable and not just a fluke and then you need to do a massive (90-95%) water change to reduce the accumulated nitrAte to a safe level before adding any fish. What is the nitrAte level at the moment?
Adding the extra sponge at this stage won't increase the capacity of the bacteria in itself - it would just gives the bacteria room to spread.

 

[JayP]

Seems like it's going well! I'm confidant to introduce fish now. Ammonia clearing quickly, nitrite up to 40ppm.

 

[missdarwin]

Not yet! NitrIte is poisonous too! You have to make BOTH ammonia AND nitrite are at zero consistently for a week before adding fish I know is sooooo slow and boring and time consuming, but if you add fish and the nitrites are still high it'll just harm your new fish.

Nitrite bacteria are the second set of bacteria you need. It sounds like you're happily developing an ammonia munching colony, but those bacteria turn the ammonia they eat into nitrite. The nitrite is also harmful, so another set of bacteria need to grow to get rid of that by turning it into nitrAte.

Sorry if this is repeating what others have said, but bide your time and wait for both your ammonia and nitrite levels to zero out.

Just keep swimming......

Ps don't let your nitrite levels get too high, otherwise you'll stall your cycle, you'll need to change some water to bring them down to 10-20ppm x you sound like you're definitely getting there though...

Edited for rubbishy spelling!

 

[JayP]

Soz my bad! My nitrAte is up at 40ppm!!