Ammonia not rising as quickly, no nitrites, high nitrates.

Doing a fish-in cycle. Did a water test this morning after not performing a water test since the day before yesterday. Things were just insane yesterday and I didn’t get a moment to test or do a water change.

My ammonia levels didn’t rise as much as they had been previously, my nitrite levels are still at 0, and my nitrates are quite high. I’m so stumped by this. Am I nearing the end of cycling my tank?

Excuse the little cup for pH. I broke a test tube.

 

Doing a fish-in cycle. Did a water test this morning after not performing a water test since the day before yesterday. Things were just insane yesterday and I didn’t get a moment to test or do a water change.

My ammonia levels didn’t rise as much as they had been previously, my nitrite levels are still at 0, and my nitrates are quite high. I’m so stumped by this. Am I nearing the end of cycling my tank?

Excuse the little cup for pH. I broke a test tube.

What do you use to generate ammonia?

That you see no nitrite is not a problem, it happens. Sometimes it seems as if the cycle skips a step but if you have nitrate, you know there is nitrite because you cannot get nitrate except from the conversion of nitrite.

The ammonia is quite low but eventually the bacteria that convert the ammonia to nitrite will catch up with the ones that convert nitrite and the cycle will be done.

The nitrates aren’t sky high but you can always change half the water and reduce them, and then dose up ammonia again.

 

What do you use to generate ammonia?

That you see no nitrite is not a problem, it happens. Sometimes it seems as if the cycle skips a step but if you have nitrate, you know there is nitrite because you cannot get nitrate except from the conversion of nitrite.

The ammonia is quite low but eventually the bacteria that convert the ammonia to nitrite will catch up with the ones that convert nitrite and the cycle will be done.

The nitrates aren’t sky high but you can always change half the water and reduce them, and then dose up ammonia again.

Since it’s a fish-in cycle I assumed the fish were producing the ammonia? Every other time I’d not do a water change for a day I’d find my ammonia at either .5 or 1 so I was pretty shocked to see my results this morning.

 

It looks to me like you're in pretty good shape. That ammonia reading is at, or very near, the margin of error for the test, and the nitrate reading isn't "quite high." It's perfectly okay. Many experienced fish keepers don't get concerned about nitrates until it reaches 40 ppm, and some put the number considerably higher. Nitrates are much less toxic than ammonia or nitrites.

 

Since it’s a fish-in cycle I assumed the fish were producing the ammonia? Every other time I’d not do a water change for a day I’d find my ammonia at either .5 or 1 so I was pretty shocked to see my results this morning.

My apologies, I must have missed that it was fish in. But you get more nitrite than you had ammonia to begin with and more nitrate than you had of nitrite so it adds up quickly.

1ppm of ammonia yields 2.7 ppm of nitrite which in turn yields 3.6 ppm of nitrate.