Water cycling question

Hello All,

I had a quick question regarding the water cycling.

Ammonia : 0 (has been the last 3 tests)
PH: 7.5
Nitrates: around 20ish
Nitrites: I can't tell if it's 1.0 or 5.0. (the coloring can comparison chart can be deceptive at times)

I use the drop testing kit and have been faithfully doing a 20-25% water change daily.

My two guys seem really happy. No unusual floating. No curled tails or gills. Eating and pooping are normal.
I also make sure to clean up after them.

So my question is this: How long before the Nitrites hit 0? Has anyone else run into this? Am I just worrying about the water for nothing? I know my tank must still be cycling so any advice or words of wisdom are greatly appreciated!

Hi Ktlaggs,

Actually i would say you are doing quite well with your water parameters. I agree with you that your tank is still cycling and its probably nearing the end as well due to the presence of nitrates and your ammonia is consistently at 0.

I think you are doing great with regular water testing with a colourimetric solution test kit, performing 20% water changes and cleaning up after feeding and visible wastes. Excellent monitoring of your axies as well. I think you are right on track. Great job.

The full cycling process actually is quite multi-factorial, such as volume of water, whether there are more or less surface area for bacteria to colonise, the amount of bioload etc. Therefore, the cycling time frame varies for everyone. Patience will be all you need.

If you are worried of ammonia or nitrite spikes, you may like to consider having live plants in your tank. They buffer against such spikes because they preferentially utilise ammonia and nitrites first over nitrates. Suitable plant types for axie tank (low light, cold temp) would include java fern, java moss, anubias, elodea, banana lilies and elodea. They are overall quite hardy plants.

Cheers

Patience m'dear, patience. These things take time. Try not to worried tooo much! Although, I also know that that is easier said then done!

Hi! It seems I'm at the exact same place in the cycling process as you are. For me my ammonia is at 0ppm, Nitrites >5 ppm, and Nitrates 10-20 ppm

My nitrites have been very high for more than a week now. I read that bacteria that make nitrates grow much slower than bacteria that makes nitrites (half the rate, according to an article from Purdue University). The article can be found here [http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~alleman/w3-articles/nitrifier-physiology/nitrifier-behavior.html] and the growth rates are listed under Table 2 of the kinetic data.

So it seems that for how long it takes for your ammonia level to drop, it will take *twice* as long for your nitrite level to drop. It might even take longer than that because you are constantly adding to the nitrite concentration from the metabolized ammonia. I know this isn't the news you are looking for, but I'm in the same boat so we just have to be patient like Kira says.

Hang in there, the process is halfway over! Good luck.

Hi Tran,

Thats an excellent article. I always encourage evidence based science to further improve our understanding, and you have done just that.

Researching through scientific journals is definitely the way to go.

Cheers.

ps: I left you a special gift somewhere

Oh a gift! yay thanks! Where is it Ray?

Well Tran,

Actually its not a gift but rather what you earned and deserved. It may not be much but i gave you some rep scores for posting that article and educating all of us the growth kinetics between nitrifiers and other bacteria populations.

Simple post, much to learn from.

If you are not aware of it, click on user CP and you it would bring you to your profile control panel.

Cheers.

Thanks Guys. This was all very reassuring and helpful. The article was great!