Nitrite in Cycled Tank?

Hello, My tank has finally cycled and is successfully converting 2ppm ammonia to 0 ammonia and nitrites in 24hrs. I just did a 40% water change with my tap water that had 0 nitrite or ammonia and added some prime. I then tested the water and it says I have 0.25 ppm ammonia and nirite. Is it possible that prime is causing false positive readings? The tap water was testing at 0ppm before I added it.

 

Hello, My tank has finally cycled and is successfully converting 2ppm ammonia to 0 ammonia and nitrites in 24hrs. I just did a 40% water change with my tap water that had 0 nitrite or ammonia and added some prime. I then tested the water and it says I have 0.25 ppm ammonia and nirite. Is it possible that prime is causing false positive readings? The tap water was testing at 0ppm before I added it.

Possible, a.p.i liquid master kit has always given me a false .25 ammonia...the nitrites though I dunno.

 

Yes, Prime is known to five false positive when used with liquid tests. Seachem also acknowledges it.

 

Yes, Prime is known to five false positive when used with liquid tests. Seachem also acknowledges it.

I've heard about it giving false positives with ammonia but I've only seen one person say it does the same with nitrite. Do you have personal experience with nitrite false readings aswell?

 

Do you have personal experience with nitrite false readings aswell?

I was talking about ammonia. I don’t know about nitrites and I have no experience of it.

You should ask Seachem.

 

I was talking about ammonia. I don’t know about nitrites and I have no experience of it.

You should ask Seachem.

Will do. Really has me stumped because everything was working perfectly and my nitrite was being converted in less than 24 hours but when I added 5 endlers to my 7 gal I'm starting to see nitrites.

 

Hello, I just recently finished cycling my 7 Gal Planted tank. The ammonia and nitrite were successfully converting 2ppm ammonia to nitrates and showing as 0 within 24 hours. Also I'm sure I built up a big enough colony since my soil has leeched ammonia which has been being converted constantly. I just recently switched from Seachem Flourish to Tropica Specialised to help plant growth and health. After I realized my tank was cycled, I changed out around 40% of the water, added prime, and I picked up 5 small endler guppies. After testing my nitrite after an hour or so I realized it was at .25 and this morning it is a little higher. What could this be? Is the prime giving me false nitrite but correct ammonia at 0? Could the fertilizer be adding nitrite somehow? My other parameters are. 72 degrees, around 7.4 ph at night and 6.6-6.8 during the day (since I have CO2) and KH at 5 GH at 7.

 

It could be that you added to many fish to fast in a freshly cycled tank. Do a %50 water change and keep an eye on parameters and they should be fine

 

It could be that you added to many fish to fast in a freshly cycled tank. Do a %50 water change and keep an eye on parameters and they should be fine

Okay will do. And the prime should hold them over in the mean time correct?

 

Sounds like a small tank adjusting to the new bio-load of the new fish and food you are adding. The colony needs to grow to stabilize to the new level. It will in time. @ a pH of 7.4 the nitrite level of .25 ppm is not toxic. If it gets up to 1 ppm, you should change the water to dilute it while your tank adjusts to the new bio-load.

 

Sounds like a small tank adjusting to the new bio-load of the new fish and food you are adding. The colony needs to grow to stabilize to the new level. It will in time. @ a pH of 7.4 the nitrite level of .25 ppm is not toxic. If it gets up to 1 ppm, you should change the water to dilute it while your tank adjusts to the new bio-load.

Okay, it actually just went down to .25-.30 so I might just leave it be. Also my PH goes down to 6.8 during CO2 so I'd imagine that is even less toxic to fish. Thanks for your input!

 

Okay, it actually just went down to .25-.30 so I might just leave it be. Also my PH goes down to 6.8 during CO2 so I'd imagine that is even less toxic to fish. Thanks for your input!

Actually, nitrite is more toxic as pH lowers. Juts the opposite to ammonia.
Anyway @6.8 pH nitrite needs to be less than .5 ppm.

You are still OK, but since you are in a transition period in a small tank, more water changes may be needed to keep the fish happy and healthy.

 

Actually, nitrite is more toxic as pH lowers. Juts the opposite to ammonia.
Anyway @6.8 pH nitrite needs to be less than .5 ppm.

You are still OK, but since you are in a transition period in a small tank, more water changes may be needed to keep the fish happy and healthy.

Ohh really, I did not know that. The fish seem extremely happy and aren't gasping for air or anything like that. My nitrite was .25 then I added prime and it went to 0. Not sure why prime is affecting affecting actual reading but.

 

Prime does nothing for ammonia or nitrites. It is just a dechlorinator. It can change readings for nitrite but that is just because of the way the test works.

Your cycle will catch up soon. But water changes are always the fishes friend if your source water is good!

 

This thread may explain what is happening and why it is happening if you only fed this cycle liquid ammonia while cycling. PSA: Something I am seeing more and more often, fishless cycling.... | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 477380

Since this tank was processing 2ppm ammonia there should have been more than enough bacteria to handle the bio-load of the fish you added.

 

This thread may explain what is happening and why it is happening if you only fed this cycle liquid ammonia while cycling. PSA: Something I am seeing more and more often, fishless cycling.... | Aquarium Nitrogen Cycle Forum | 477380

Since this tank was processing 2ppm ammonia there should have been more than enough bacteria to handle the bio-load of the fish you added.

Thank you. This must be what happened. Either this or the Prime was messing with the results slightly. The tank should build up enough BB soon enough I hope.

 

Thank you. This must be what happened. Either this or the Prime was messing with the results slightly. The tank should build up enough BB soon enough I hope.

You are very welcome. I've never noticed Prime messing with the test results but to be perfectly honest I've not tested it out. Yes, the bacteria should get used to the different food it is getting now. I can't say for sure how long it will take.