Strange readings

[waterwatereverywhere]

The tank in my sig has been set up for about 10 days. The plants went in last Friday. I'm about to start cycling it tonight, so nothing's gone in yet.

I use RO water which tests 0 for nitrite & nitrate. I then buffer it with Kent RO-right.

As a matter of interest I just tested the tank, and got:

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0.1
Nitrate 5

The question is, where have the nitrite and nitrate come from? I came up with three possibilities, but don't know how likely they are!

1 - Some of the plant leaves have browned off. Could they have produced a bit of ammonia that's begun a cycle?

2 - I also have some holey leaves, and found a snail yesterday. That means there are probably more! - could they be producing waste, and so starting a cycle?

3 - Only other thing I can think of is the RO-right, but I can't see that really, I only mention it as the only other thing that's gone into the tank.

Any ideas very welcome - thanks!

 

[Dragonslair]

Check the source of the RO water, it may already contain these chemicals.

 

[waterwatereverywhere]

It doesn't, no; I've tested the RO water - I did again, after I got these readings from the tank, and it comes out zero for both nitrite & nitrate. It's probably not that important, I suppose, as I've started cycling it now anyway - just curious...

 

[njparton]

Test kits aren't very accurate - they could just be spurious readings.

 

[thecichlidaddict]

I think eveything said could have some bearing on it.

Decaying leaves will certainly affect the water, but I'd be surprised if it happend so quickly. With snails in the tank you most certainly have started the cycle, but very minorly, the snails haven't had much of a chance to multiply... yet. Most of the standard test kits are inaccurate too, so they really just give you an idea of what's going on. All in all the levels showing are extremely low anyway, and you have nothing to worry about at the moment.