HELP with Nitrites and Nitrates??

Hello fellow fish people!

I'm cycling a 10 gallon tank with a pH of 7.5 and water temp of 79-80F. I've been cycling now for 26 days...yikes. The issue is my tank's nitrite and nitrate. The ammonia got down 2 days ago from 2ppm to 1ppm from a water change and the nitrite remains that icky dark violet color(can't tell if its over 5ppm since the API test kit only tests to 5ppm). The nitrates also haven't moved from 5ppm and now looking about 1ppm after that water change. I'm using dr. Tim's O&O and his ammonia chloride solution. Haven't added any ammonia since day 12 so its not the ammonia bit causing these high nitrites. What should I do? Another water change....or wait another week?

 

I wouldn’t do a water change unless it doesn’t go down. It seems to be taking longer than usual so you could add more water agitation to go faster.

You can aim your filter outlet or a powerhead towards the surface.

 

I wouldn’t do a water change unless it doesn’t go down. It seems to be taking longer than usual so you could add more water agitation to go faster.

You can aim your filter outlet or a powerhead towards the surface.

Hey Dechi,

Sounds good, though I have an Aqueon Quietflow Filter..kinda tricky to move so would I have to buy a bubbling stone or an Air pump?

 

right now a water change isn’t necessary if you don’t have fish in do a dilution test where you fill a test tube with half aquarium water and half tap water. If it still says 2ppm+ you’ll have an idea of how high it is. Anything over 4 I would do a water change to get it around 3 to 4. It’s mainly a patience game it took my nitrites 2 to 3 weeks to drop after dosing ammonia. Hope this helps plus crank the heat up to 84 the bacteria love that!

 

right now a water change isn’t necessary if you don’t have fish in do a dilution test where you fill a test tube with half aquarium water and half tap water. If it still says 2ppm+ you’ll have an idea of how high it is. Anything over 4 I would do a water change to get it around 3 to 4. It’s mainly a patience game it took my nitrites 2 to 3 weeks to drop after dosing ammonia. Hope this helps plus crank the heat up to 84 the bacteria love that!

Hey Chrisfish7887,

Yeah my cycle is fish-less and the water I'm using is tap, however my whole loft is filtered so I have to shut off the water to test my tap; which I did and water 0ppm for both nitrite and ammonia.

right now a water change isn’t necessary if you don’t have fish in do a dilution test where you fill a test tube with half aquarium water and half tap water. If it still says 2ppm+ you’ll have an idea of how high it is. Anything over 4 I would do a water change to get it around 3 to 4. It’s mainly a patience game it took my nitrites 2 to 3 weeks to drop after dosing ammonia. Hope this helps plus crank the heat up to 84 the bacteria love that!

Also I Just turned up the temp a lil bit for my bacteria, thanks!

 

Filtered or tap it doesn’t matter as long as it’s clean water you dilute the testing water with. I was in your shoes a few weeks ago feeling like something isn’t right but if you just believe and let it sit for a few weeks the bio filter will catch up

 

Filtered or tap it doesn’t matter as long as it’s clean water you dilute the testing water with. I was in your shoes a few weeks ago feeling like something isn’t right but if you just believe and let it sit for a few weeks the bio filter will catch up

Okay thanks! My 20gal took only 14 days so I guess I was getting worried. I shall let my tank do whatever it needs to do.

 

Hey Dechi,

Sounds good, though I have an Aqueon Quietflow Filter..kinda tricky to move so would I have to buy a bubbling stone or an Air pump?

A cheap Sun Sun power head would be perfect and won’t hurt your wallet.

 

A cheap Sun Sun power head would be perfect and won’t hurt your wallet.

I took a look at them and definitely sounds like a plan. Much obliged.

 

Quick update!

So its been a couple of days and my ammonia is dropping a bit faster and its exactly .5ppm, and my nitrates are coming back between 5-10ppm. However, my nitrites are crazy high, I just tested and when I shook the tube to test, it turned to .5ppm purple instantly and now looks waaayy over 5ppm when I let it sit for the 5min. Should I add ammonia for the bacteria?? I'm worried it'll increase the nitrites and make my cycle take longer than it already is. Any quick tips?

(just want to be sure...never had a nitrite issue in the past.)

Quick update!

So its been a couple of days and my ammonia is dropping a bit faster and its exactly .5ppm, and my nitrates are coming back between 5-10ppm. However, my nitrites are crazy high, I just tested and when I shook the tube to test, it turned to .5ppm purple instantly and now looks waaayy over 5ppm when I let it sit for the 5min. Should I add ammonia for the bacteria?? I'm worried it'll increase the nitrites and make my cycle take longer than it already is. Any quick tips?

(just want to be sure...never had a nitrite issue in the past.)

Never mind, I solved my own problem