choochiegirl

I am almost done week 2 of fishless cycling my new 30 gallon tank and think it's moving along great. Now the test kits are complicated. I was able to get the API ammonia kit which tests in PPM but my nitrite & nitrate kits are from Nutrifin and test in mg/L (us silly Canadians) i think and I don't know how it correlates with PPM.
I only test every other day. My first day May 27 i did put Cycle into the tank, and did again 7 days later, as it can't hurt and the money was spent already on it.
Here are my readings:
May28
Ammonia .25

May 30
Ammonia .50
Nitrite .01

June 1
Ammonia .50
Nitrite .01
Nitrate 5

June 3
Ammonia .50
Nitrite .03
Nitrate did not do test

June 5
ammonia .25
Nitrite 1.6
Nitrate did not do test

June 7
Ammonia 0 YAY!!!!!
Nitrite 1.6
Nitrate 110 wow

from the looks of it, I think it is progressing, but should the nitrate really be that high? i didn't really bother testing for it regularly since I figured it was useless to until Ammonia & Nitrite were both 0. I know not to do a water change till Nitrite drops back to 0.

sgould

Looks like you are doing well...your cycle is progressing. To answer your question on the nitrate being so high: Since you are cycling fishless, it is fine. Once the nitrite portion of the cycle is complete, you will need to do a fairly massive water change in order to bring the nitrate back down to a level that will be safe for you to add fish. Your goal will be to get the nitrate down to 20 or less, at which point you will be good to go. For now, though, with no fish in the tank, just keep doing what you are doing to complete the cycle...no water changes yet.

choochiegirl

Would it be bad if I added some water?? My water has evaporated enough that it makes my filter noisy when its on full. I don't want to dilute it too much tho

sgould

Replacing evaporated water is fine...be sure to treat it for chlorine before adding it.

vin

Something sounds a little off in the nitrates...You wouldn't see a spike that high that fast while still having nitrites....I would test them again and see what happens. Nitrate tests are tricky so be sure to follow the instructions to the letter.....And if they are that high it's important to know that you will have to change nearly all of your water to get them down to acceptable levels in order to add fish. Doing that may cause a mini cycle.

choochiegirl

i find it really hard to tell what colour is what on the chart. They have to be so darn close in shades, i wish they had a nice digital meter you dip in & it tells ya exactly.
I figured I'd have to do a massive water change when it all was ready to go either way. I topped up the water in my tank too, and yes i treated it

I just tested it again to see if I did it right, so the same readings as yesterday

Ammonia 0
Nitrite 1.6
Nitrate 110

So I guess once my nitrites drop to 0 I need to pretty much change all of my water and retest? The instructions for the kit say to only do a 20% change if it's >110

vin

Since I'm not familiar with the brand of test kit you're using, it could very well be within or close to the acceptable range.....The API test kits go in smaller increments...They say that anything <40 is acceptable. But most of us here prefer 20 or less.... 5 or 10 is even better....

choochiegirl

i wish i was able to find the API kits for nitrites & nitrates, but many stores just have the strips, and getting a nitrate one i had to go to 3 stores to get one.

Didn't test tonight, I will tomorrow to see if my nitrites have finally dropped

armadillo

That's really annoying (to have to go to a million stores). Perhaps you could order it online?

choochiegirl

I have thought about it, but I still need to test in the meantime. There's a store i can try that I haven't yet

armadillo

Good luck with that. Hope you find it without having to criss-cross the whole state!

choochiegirl

I went into Big Al's to see what they had for test kits, didn't have the API ones so I will use what I got.

I asked about Bio-Spira and they said they are not allowed to bring it in from the States, so I will have to do without. I did pick up a bottle of Stability the guy said it's really good. The store had a HUGE selection of fish, they looked so healthy, so we looked around and started to seriously think of what to get.

Definitely some oto's, they had a new batch there under quarantine until they are ready to sell. there was some beautiful tequila sunrise guppies there , and probably some tetra's either glowlight or neons. I can't wait!!!

armadillo

Wow, sounds like you've got yourself a great fish store, there. That's really good news. Happy fish picking!

vin

You could try ordering the API master kit or even the individual kits on line...Typically PetSmart.com has one of the lowest prices.

choochiegirl

to ship it from the states is pricey since i have to pay extra shipping & customs brokerage over & above the kits price & the shipping on the site. the LFS said thay may get some in by the end of the week so I will check it out when I hopefully go to buy our fish this weekend.

vin

Yeah, sorry...I didn't realize you were out of the states...Try eBay stores....? Maybe that can save you on the shipping/customs charges?

Luniyn

Maybe you will have better luck with Stability then I did, but it didn't seem to do much of anything for me when I used it. Unfortunately as far as store bought products go, Bio-Spira is the only one that actually works. All of the others use the wrong type of good bacteria it seems and don't help in the long run. There are people that say this product works for them or that products works, but none have tried to cycle a tank without and compare if it takes just as long to cycle without as it does with. Just keep doing what you are doing, you are almost there.

voiceless_kat

Hi. I found a Canadian website called Petsandponds.com...pretty good selection and very reasonable. Val