Ammonia/Nitrite/Nitrate Levels

[BriGuyRN]

Week 2 of cycling. 60 gallon. 2 Green Chromis. Using Microbe-Lift Special Blend and Nite-Out II. Skimmer is not on yet.

Tested today:
Ammonia is 0.50
Nitrite is 0
Nitrate is somewhere between 5 and 10.

Is this good? I thought that as ammonia lowers, nitrite was supposed to rise, then lower and nitrate would rise. Seems my Nitrate is rising before Nitrite.

 

[firemountain]

Ideally you want to have your tank convert an ammonia source (whether it's via fish less cycling with pure ammonia, ghost feeding, or a raw shimp) to nitrate within a 24 hour period.

When you start seeing no Ammonia or Nitrites in your tank, and only Nitrates present, then your tanks cycle is complete.

In your case with the numbers you posted, it could be the possibility of inaccurate testing/noise.

Having fish in your tank while cycling is not recommended. Ammonia will burn the fishes gills, and can kill the fish. Even if it survives the cycle, it will not last as long. If you have been using an ammonia binder like Prime, then your Ammonia readings will be skewed.

Also...how much live rock to you have in your tank? It took my 65g tank with 40 lbs. of LR (75 lbs total) and Dr. Tim's One and Only close to 3 weeks to fully cycle. I would venture to say that you still have a bit ways to go before your tank is fully cycled....esp. if you are still seeing the presence of Ammonia.

 

[Giants13]

Ideally you want to have your tank convert an ammonia source (whether it's via fish less cycling with pure ammonia, ghost feeding, or a raw shimp) to nitrate within a 24 hour period.

When you start seeing no Ammonia or Nitrites in your tank, and only Nitrates present, then your tanks cycle is complete.

In your case it could be the possibility of inaccurate testing/noise.

Having fish in your tank while cycling is not recommended. Ammonia will burn the fishes gills, and can kill th fish. Even if it survives the cycle, it will not last as long.

+1 on not having fish in the tank while cycling.

 

[Morganfbs]

I've rarely seen nitrite during my cycles; I test for ammonia until I get results showing lots of ammonia, wait a while, test again every few days until there is no ammonia. Then, I test for nitrate, and at this point there should be some nitrate. Only after feeding for several days and seeing no ammonia increases would I begin to add fish, very slowly.