Abyssal Pyre
New member
Hi everyone,
I have a problem with nitrites in my tank. It's been 40 days of cycling now, and I thought it was ok.
I started cycling with a canister filter, using the "sera bio nitrivec" liquid bacteria to establish the nitrogen cycle, I put the bacteria every time I do a water change depending on how much water I change.
I had a lot of ammonia the first weeks, and it spiked up and down a bit. Nitrites started appearing soon after, and they spiked to 1.7 mg/l (ppm) more than two weeks ago. I did water changes weekly, doing a bigger 75% water change when nitrites spiked. This week, ammonia and nitrites were stable for a few days, and nitrates appeared. The readings were constant, water tested every day:
0.004 ppm NH3
0.000 ppm N02
10 to 20 ppm N03 (varying)
So yesterday evening I decided to put the little axie in, who was super happy to be in his new tank.
This morning though I tested my water, and the values were:
0.004 ppm Ammonia
0.5 (maybe MORE) ppm Nitrites
0.25 ppm Nitrates
Ph has always been a stable 7.5, temperature 17-19 degrees
I quickly tubbed the little guy out of the tank in fresh dechlorinated water (as he was before). I re-tested to make sure it wasn't a false reading, and it was not. I also tested my tap water to make sure it was ok, and it has 0 Nitrites.
My question is: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN MY TANK? Lol
I assume cycled hasn't kicked in yet, but what should I do next? Why this cycling is so weird and going up and down in values compared to the "linear" cycling phases I see online?
I have a problem with nitrites in my tank. It's been 40 days of cycling now, and I thought it was ok.
I started cycling with a canister filter, using the "sera bio nitrivec" liquid bacteria to establish the nitrogen cycle, I put the bacteria every time I do a water change depending on how much water I change.
I had a lot of ammonia the first weeks, and it spiked up and down a bit. Nitrites started appearing soon after, and they spiked to 1.7 mg/l (ppm) more than two weeks ago. I did water changes weekly, doing a bigger 75% water change when nitrites spiked. This week, ammonia and nitrites were stable for a few days, and nitrates appeared. The readings were constant, water tested every day:
0.004 ppm NH3
0.000 ppm N02
10 to 20 ppm N03 (varying)
So yesterday evening I decided to put the little axie in, who was super happy to be in his new tank.
This morning though I tested my water, and the values were:
0.004 ppm Ammonia
0.5 (maybe MORE) ppm Nitrites
0.25 ppm Nitrates
Ph has always been a stable 7.5, temperature 17-19 degrees
I quickly tubbed the little guy out of the tank in fresh dechlorinated water (as he was before). I re-tested to make sure it wasn't a false reading, and it was not. I also tested my tap water to make sure it was ok, and it has 0 Nitrites.
My question is: WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON IN MY TANK? Lol
I assume cycled hasn't kicked in yet, but what should I do next? Why this cycling is so weird and going up and down in values compared to the "linear" cycling phases I see online?