MindTravel3r

Hi Folks,

I am on day 19 of a fishless cycle. On day 7 I tested for nitrites and found them present. On day 14 I tested again and found the nitrites to be be above 1 PPM. The test reading on day 14 was dark pink-red which is the highest reading on the card. This morning (day 19) I tested again and the color was a light orange. There is no orange shade on the chart at all. I tested this twice to ensure that this was not an error on my part. I got the same result both times.

I am using a Red Sea test kit that has an expiration of 9/11.

Do you think an orange is just high levels of nitrites beyond what the kit can test?

Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

David

Prince Powder

I think if they were already at the highest reading five days ago and you haven't done a water change, it is most likely a case of extra high levels. I understand this happens alot when cycling with ammonia. I would do a water change to get those levels down to a readable level. How much ammonia are you adding daily? If I recall correctly, once you are getting detectable nitrites you are supposed to cut back the ammonia to about 1-2 ppm per day. If you are still bringing it up to 4ppm, that could be why your nitrites got so high.