Nitrite Spike?

[Fishiegoddess]

hi, im starting up an aquarium..i've had my ten gallon tank running for about 10 days and i wanna get the cycleing on and i know everything about cycleing ..thats not my problem..i read the article that said to add 4-5 drops of ammonia untill i get a "Nitrite spike"...how do i know that i've gotten a nitrite spike?..i'm gonna get a test kit tonight and i wanna know what it will say when the water is "spiked"?

 

[Dragonslair]

I hate to say this to you FG, but if you.......

and i know everything about cycleing ..thats not my problem

then you should know what a nitrite spike is......
If however you wish to learn a little more about cycling, may I draw your attention to the "pinned" article "Avioding new tank syndrome".

 

[Fishiegoddess]

i do know about cycleing but all the websites i've come upon have told me to wait for a "nitrite spike" but they do not tell me what the test kil number for "spiked" is

 

[Dragonslair]

Alright. A spike can range from 1-5ppm. I would not advocate anything above .74ppm

 

[tstenback]

hi, im starting up an aquarium..i've had my ten gallon tank running for about 10 days and i wanna get the cycleing on and i know everything about cycleing ..thats not my problem..i read the article that said to add 4-5 drops of ammonia untill i get a "Nitrite spike"...how do i know that i've gotten a nitrite spike?..i'm gonna get a test kit tonight and i wanna know what it will say when the water is "spiked"?

When you start to get nitrite readings they will change daily. I consider the spike to be the highest level that the nitrite gets and holds for 2 consecutive days. This has always worked for me. As Dragonslair mentioned this level will be anywhere from 1-5 ppm or higher, but my kit only measures up to 5ppm. HTH