Tony G.

I started my cycle on saturday october 3rd.
Last night i decided to do my first test.
it was .6pm

then, i tested again today, it was between the .6ppm ad 0ppm mark. My nitites however, were at .8ppm!

is this normal at all?

Shawnie

what is 6pm LOL and what test kit are you using?and what are you using to cycle the tank with ?

Tony G.

loo .6 PPM typo
i am using Nutrafin´s Mini master test kit.
I am adding flake food every 12 hrs like you suggested.
The first 2 days i added tons of flake ( i didnt know how much to add) but ever since i asked you guys, ivebeen doing the flakes every 12 hrs or so..

navyscuba

Shawnie He must have a lobster in there.

Tony G.

nope! just plain tetra food lol

Shawnie

ignore scubes...hes been stacking my wood and has been working his brains off all day
so your ammonia went from 6ppm and now you have nitrites that are 8 ppm ? is that right? if so, you are on track ..im not familiar with your test kit but im assuming you trust it? whats your temp at? crank that baby up as high as it will go....higher temps cycle faster....is this a bare bottom tank? if not, you are going to have a mess of food and maybe even some algae/fungus if you added too much..but for now, id keep it going with feeding once every 12 hours.....unless you can get a piece of raw shrimp to throw in there

Tony G.

noo! its at . 6 ppm! not sure if its the same as 6 ppm... isnt there a difference

i trust my test kit alot... its worked really well, easy to match to the cards. The ony downside is i have to wait 5 to 10 minutes to see accurate results.

Its not a barebottom. Its decorated pretty well... shoud i syphon the flake

i starte my cycle at 86 degrees, as i said before, i tossed the old heater and left the tank on its own. Just yesterday the water was barely reaching the 80´s. The glass top keeps the humidity in.. which is why i think is keeping it warm... but its not too hot here... it wont be long before its in the mid 70´s

Shawnie

hmmmm I had better step back from this one.im not familiar with your kit and if it takes 5-10 mins to be accurate, how do you know its actually accurate? ive only used the API so maybe another member who uses yours can help more!! ..as long as your ammonia is dropping, and you are getting nitrites now, its coming along...no dont siphon anything yet...you dont have fish so you are fine just might have to do more cleaning when you begin to stock

Tony G.

before i used to compare results right away after i shaked the bottle. Today i let it sit for about 6 minutes whil i did other things... i had .6 ppm...
Yesterday i did it right away and had 0...

ut what i am weirded out because ijust started it on saturday... should i be seeing ammonia and even nitrites this early?

Shawnie

not usually but not impossible i guess...what im wondering is if you let the kit/test tube sit longer, does it give you different results? I know with mine ive left it over night (oops brunette moment) and it was the same as it was after 5 mins..thats what im wondering.....again im not familiar with yours and cant say one way or another ..sorry

navyscuba

No wonder the VA Doctor told me to take it easy with my back. This job of moving wood messed up my back. Is fine Is on my VA Claim.

See Tony now she tell you to put a lobster tail in your tank.

On the other note if your readings were good before and they spike out of nowhere is ok that happen to me with my 100 but in my case it happen I had just put fish on the tank so I had to run and do a 50% change and take some of the fish out to minimize the load.

Tony G.

thanks guys! i am testing this as we speak, i have left it upstairs for about an hour.. i will go check on it now.

Alright, just checked them and they are the same color they were 1 hr ago... i guess i wasnt waiting long enough before...