Nitrite - 24 Hours To Drop And Not Getting Any Quicker?

[Jonno]

Hi there,

My nitrite is dropping but it is taking 24 hours to from from 4ppm down to 0ppm. Ammonia is gone in just a few hours. It doesn't seem to be speeding up

I've been cycling now for 5 weeks. I've added extra aeration which has sped up the nitrite processing but only slightly.

PH 7.2.

Any other suggestions as i want to get my fish this weekend? If this is still happening by the weekend i'm going do the water change and carry on fish-in cycling. Clearly, with all the problems i have had something obviously isn't right!

Thanks!

Jonno.

 

[Dark Wolf]

i personally added fish to my tank, when it was taking around 18 hours for the nitrite to drop, and 5 weeks later they all seem to be doing just fine.

 

[Leitch]

Crank the heat up!

And if you cant get it any hotter, throw a blanket over it.

 

[Jonno]

Crank the heat up!

And if you cant get it any hotter, throw a blanket over it.

yeah done that tonight, was on 30 degrees, now up to 32.

can't remember the setting for 24 degrees now though because i've been playing with it so much so may take some fiddling before i add fish

 

[littlest]

Just wanted to say mine was about the same as yours a week or two ago and is now processing ammonia and nitrite in under 12 hours

 

[doresy]

Don't rush things at the end after doing so well. Another week or so won't hurt

 

[littlest]

Don't rush things at the end after doing so well. Another week or so won't hurt

Yeah I'd second that.

My tank seemed cycled for two days but went slow again for a week. I like tanks to show cycled results for at least a week before adding fish, just to be sure.

 

[Jonno]

right the temperature increase seems to have helped, currently at about 34 degrees.

added ammonia at 8pm last night - checked at about 7.30 this morning and it was at 1ppm, so at an estimate i'd say it has taken anywhere between 15 and 20 hours for the nitrite to return to 0.

hopefully i can get my fish this weekend

 

[Jonno]

My tank seemed cycled for two days but went slow again for a week. I like tanks to show cycled results for at least a week before adding fish, just to be sure.

this seems to be happening with me now, usually at 0.5ppm at this time of day and it's still at 2ppm

did you do a water change or just sit it out?

 

[littlest]

I suppose I did do a couple of water changes when I added plants and stuff, but didn't do it for reasons related to cycling. I don't know if that had any effect or not.

 

[Jonno]

right still at 2ppm, nitrites have proper stalled

water change time for me!

 

[SexyFishKeeper]

right still at 2ppm, nitrites have proper stalled

water change time for me!

Mine has shown 2ppm soon as Nitrite appeared tbh. Only shows 2ppm as it's off the scale. You sure that's not the case for you?

 

[Jonno]

right still at 2ppm, nitrites have proper stalled

water change time for me!

Mine has shown 2ppm soon as Nitrite appeared tbh. Only shows 2ppm as it's off the scale. You sure that's not the case for you?

i don't think so, as i'm putting in the same ammonia as i was when it was processing from 4ppm -> 0ppm in 18 hours ish, when i see it go through 1ppm -> 0.5ppm -> 0.25ppm -> 0ppm (as per api test). now ammonia is acting exactly the same as it always has (<12 hours), however the nitrite is taking 30 hours.

know what you mean though with this nitrate and nitrite api test it's hard to make out what the colour is sometimes (nitrate mainly)

 

[Jonno]

could by temp be TOO high? when it was at 29 degrees it was processing 4ppm nitrite in 18 hours. when i upped it to 33 degrees+, a few days later it slowed down? possibly related?

 

[Angel_Queen]

Normally, increasing the temperature increases the rate of bacterial growth as bacteria love heat.