Nitrite levels during fishless cycle

[Fishfaced]

Hi all,
What level of nitrite should I be aiming for during the cycle before it starts to drop?

At the moment I'm at 0.25 nitrite.
Ammonia is between 1.0 - 2.0
I'm 28 days into the cycle using fish flakes.

Thanks

 

[Colin_T]

less than 5ppm ammonia or nitrite. most go for about 3ppm.

 

[Essjay]

There is no specific level of nitrite to aim for as long as it does not go higher than 15 ppm as the cycle stalls above that level. The trouble is that our test kits don't measure that high.

If you were using ammonia it would be easier as you could control the amount of ammonia added so that nitrite could never get that high but it's more difficult with fish food as you have no idea how much ammonia has been added, just what the level is at the moment you test for it.

 

[Fishfaced]

There is no specific level of nitrite to aim for as long as it does not go higher than 15 ppm as the cycle stalls above that level. The trouble is that our test kits don't measure that high.

If you were using ammonia it would be easier as you could control the amount of ammonia added so that nitrite could never get that high but it's more difficult with fish food as you have no idea how much ammonia has been added, just what the level is at the moment you test for it.

Yea I wish I'd used ammonia solution now rather than food. I've heard the food method builds stronger beneficial bacteria in the end though. I'll just persevere and keep doing my tests. Nitrite does seem to be moving.
Thanks for replying.

 

[Essjay]

Fish food may well grow other micro-organisms as it has a lot more than just ammonia, but I can't see it'll grow the ammonia and nitrite eaters better because ammonia is ammonia wherever it comes from. I suspect when people say it builds stronger bacteria what they really mean it is grows more than just the beneficial bacteria.


The main downside to fish food is that you cannot know how many bacteria have grown at the end of the cycle so you have to stock slowly, monitoring ammonia and nitrite after each batch of fish to be on the safe side. Though this does have the advantage that when you go fish shopping you may well see fish you hadn't thought about and add them to the list - with bottled ammonia, you can add just about all the fish at once then when you see must-have fish, there's no room for them.

 

[Fishfaced]

Fish food may well grow other micro-organisms as it has a lot more than just ammonia, but I can't see it'll grow the ammonia and nitrite eaters better because ammonia is ammonia wherever it comes from. I suspect when people say it builds stronger bacteria what they really mean it is grows more than just the beneficial bacteria.


The main downside to fish food is that you cannot know how many bacteria have grown at the end of the cycle so you have to stock slowly, monitoring ammonia and nitrite after each batch of fish to be on the safe side. Though this does have the advantage that when you go fish shopping you may well see fish you hadn't thought about and add them to the list - with bottled ammonia, you can add just about all the fish at once then when you see must-have fish, there's no room for them.

I see how it has it's advantages over food definitely. I don't mind adding stock slowly, kinda keeps it fun for longer. The whole process of fish shopping and seeing each individual fish take to their new home. I'm guessing this is why people end up with loads of tanks. Once it's full it's full.