Why is Nitrite So High?? :O

Hey guys I did a water test today and these were my results:

PH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0.25ppm
Nitrite: 2.0ppm
Nitrate: 10ppm - 20ppm

I was wondering if it’s normal for the nitrite to get so high?

 

A little more information might be helpful. Is this an established tank, or one that's a fishless cycle, or something else?

 

A little more information might be helpful. Is this an established tank, or one that's a fishless cycle, or something else?

Yo sorry! I forgot to give more info!

This is a 37 gallon tank that I’m currently doing a fish less cycle using fish food as my ammonia source.

 

Yo sorry! I forgot to give more info!

This is a 37 gallon tank that I’m currently doing a fish less cycle using fish food as my ammonia source.

Ok so I did another test today and now the results read:

Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 2.0ppm - 5.0ppm
Nitrate: 20ppm

is it ok to have such high levels of nitrite when doing a cycle??? I’m a bit concerned.

I’m not sure whether I need to do a water today or should I just let the bacteria do it’s thing?

 

Perfectly normal part of the cycling process.

 

Perfectly normal part of the cycling process.

Really? I shouldn’t be concerned that the nitrite will destroy the bacteria?

 

Really? I shouldn’t be concerned that the nitrite will destroy the bacteria?

No, to put it very simply, what is happening is you have grown some ammonia eating bacteria. Like every living thing, that bacteria poops. What it poops out is nitrites. Eventually nitrite eating bacteria will start growing to eat the nitrites. It too will poop and what it poops out is nitrates.

What you are seeing is perfectly normal in a cycling tank. Eventually you will have enough ammonia eating bacteria to keep the ammonia level down to zero. The ammonia eating bacteria seems to grow fairly fast. The nitrite eating bacteria seems to grow a bit slower but eventually you will have enough to eat all the nitrites and they too will drop down to zero.

Although in most cases water changes don't need to be done while doing a fishless cycle but sometimes they are necessary. In your case I don't recommend you change out any water simply because you are using fish food as your ammonia source. You don't want to remove any of the ammonia the fish food is producing.

If you were using liquid ammonia to feed the cycle I would recommend a water change to get the nitrites a bit lower because you could simply add more ammonia. Getting them lower at this point is not necessary though.

 

No, to put it very simply, what is happening is you have grown some ammonia eating bacteria. Like every living thing, that bacteria poops. What it poops out is nitrites. Eventually nitrite eating bacteria will start growing to eat the nitrites. It too will poop and what it poops out is nitrates.

What you are seeing is perfectly normal in a cycling tank. Eventually you will have enough ammonia eating bacteria to keep the ammonia level down to zero. The ammonia eating bacteria seems to grow fairly fast. The nitrite eating bacteria seems to grow a bit slower but eventually you will have enough to eat all the nitrites and they too will drop down to zero.

Although in most cases water changes don't need to be done while doing a fishless cycle but sometimes they are necessary. In your case I don't recommend you change out any water simply because you are using fish food as your ammonia source. You don't want to remove any of the ammonia the fish food is producing.

If you were using liquid ammonia to feed the cycle I would recommend a water change to get the nitrites a bit lower because you could simply add more ammonia. Getting them lower at this point is not necessary though.

Oh ok, Thank you for the information!