These tests are all over the map!

I

ibrat82

New member
So I'm trying to find out what my nitrite levels are and Here's the readings I'm getting from 3 different test kits.

Api saltwater
Nitrite: 5ppm or above

Salifert
Nitrite: 1-2 ppm

Hanna checker
Nitrite 15ppm.

Which one of these am I supposed take as my real results?

I've been reading that if my nitrites are too high to either so water change or keep adding beneficial bacteria so that we can start to detect nitrates and lower nitrites. Which should I do because I have no idea which test kit to believe....
 
If nitrites are not 0 your tanks still isn't cycled and you really don't need to worry about it. I do question why the Hanna checker is so high. I would trust Salifert over API
 
Oh I know. But how do I know if my cycle might stall cause of really high nitrites?? When I put the Api regent in the vile it turns purple instantly I was told that if that were the case then my nitrites are beyond what the rest can read ie over 5ppm
 
I would go with the Salifert numbers and not do a water change until your cycle is complete. While I think that you would likely extend the duration of the cycle if the nitrites truly were at 15ppm, the Salifert numbers look right and while the API tests may not be the most accurate in the world they are much closer to the Salifert number than the Hana checker. I know the Hanna checkers get a lot of good reviews, but honestly through the years I've seen enough batches of bad regents from them giving false readings that I question their reliability.
 
I completely Agree with thegrun on not changing the water and I too believe the Salifert over the others. Sometimes nitrites do stall and all you can do is wait. They will all of a sudden be gone
 
Nitrates are 0 and ammonia is 0. As per my other thread I did a fishless cycle using ammonia to start. After 3 days ammonia dropped to .25 then I added more to bring it upto 2-3 ppm. 2 days later back to 0, added more ammonia to 2ppm then after 12 hours or so it would bring back to 0. Then nitrites gradually over this course went from .50 to 5ppm as per api. Then started to test with Hanna and it was reading 16ppm. So now I went out and got a Salifert test and its showing 1-2 ppm while Api is 5ppm or more it's dark purple, and Hanna again showing 15ppm.
 
If you have not seen a full cycle I would leave the water be. Adding more bacteria will not hurt IMO but I would not do a water change if there is no live stock in the tank. How long have the nitrites been spiked and has the ammonia spiked and gone to 0 already? If you have posted about this before I am sorry I didn't catch those numbers.
 
The reason your nitrItes are so high is you kept adding ammonia.

You had the ammonia bacteria, but have not grown the nitrites bacteria yet. So while your biological filtration could process the ammonia, it could not process the nitrates yet. Just let it go., it will process them eventually. With nitrites that high it will probably take a while longer to completely cycle. Don't do anything, including a water change. Just let them process naturally.

Where you went wrong was you kept adding ammonia. Your supposed to only dose ammonia once, maybe twice, but the second time is only after your nitrites have been processed into nitrates. It's basically stress testing the biological filtration(redosing ammonia and making sure it processes into nitrates in 24 hour period).
 
Hi A.Astore. No problem. Nitrites have been spiked for 3 days now. Ammonia took 7 days to drop to 0 completely. I was told by my lfs to use colony by atm as my beneficial bacteria additive since I went fishless and using only dry rock. I think it's working as it seems to be cycling quicker.
 
Hi homer1475.

Thank makes sense but i was only going by numerous articles I've read online that said to add ammonia once they start to drop to 0 so it keeps feeding the bacteria or else it would starve. I'm gonna leave it alone and hope for the best. I was told that seachem stability can't hurt to keep feeding the bacteria.
 
The bacteria don't need to be fed for a very long time. They can live well over a year without any food. And that comes from a very trusted source on these forums(I've seen Randy Holmes Farley(Forgive me if I'm misspelling your name) post this numerous times around here)
 
Meant to say " you can do a small water change if you want", nitrite above 5 won't really be beneficial I don't think. If it were me, I personally would leave it and let it deal with it on its own, but I doubt a 10-15% wc would hurt anything with the elevated levels you might have.
 
ibrat82 said:
Would adding seachem stability help with bringing he nitrites down?
Click to expand...


It could. I use stability on all my qt tanks and I also use it when I start a new tank, it has always worked really well for me. I also do a full cycle though and only use stability on the new tanks for about a week.
 


Hey guys

This is getting confusing as hell! So if you look at a the three tests I did. You will see that the selifert nitrate and Api seem to be on par around 2-3 ppm. However when I added the nitrite regaent in the Api kit it turned purple instantly. If you look at the Hanna checker though it's saying 14ppm.

Now let's move on to nitrates. If you look at the api nitrates it's showing 0 maybe 5ppm, but looks at the selifert nitrate test its showing 100ppm. How am I supposed to know which one to follow? I guess non of them are showing 0 nitrites so I have to wait then till that happens to know the cycle is complete.
 
Stop worrying & let the tank cycle, NO water changes.
When Nitrites remain -0- then you can check Nitrates.
When using the Salifert kit use it for the LOW RANGE in a good light.
I like to use sunlight if I can.
 
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