ATM colony day 3- zero nitrites or nitrates

[spamvicious]

Today’s results, so this is three weeks since I added the first bottle of nitrifying bacteria, two weeks since the second bottle and a week since the third (different brand) bottle. Only in the last week have I seen any sign of nitrite or nitrate.

I have two very small juvenile clown fish that have been in the tank since day one so I’m confused as to how they are happy and feeding well after two and a half weeks of ammonia readings around this level.

 

[spamvicious]

Today’s results, so this is three weeks since I added the first bottle of nitrifying bacteria, two weeks since the second bottle and a week since the third (different brand) bottle. Only in the last week have I seen any sign of nitrite or nitrate.

I have two very small juvenile clown fish that have been in the tank since day one so I’m confused as to how they are happy and feeding well after two and a half weeks of ammonia readings around this level.

This is how everything is looking.

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley]

To me the ammonia level indicated by the Red Sea kit looks higher now than it did June 15. That said, It could just be that the Red Sea kit is not giving useful numbers.

I may have already asked this in some other context 9I know i asked soemone lol) , but have you tested some new salt water with that kit?

 

[spamvicious]

To me the ammonia level indicated by the Red Sea kit looks higher now than it did June 15. That said, It could just be that the Red Sea kit is not giving useful numbers.

I may have already asked this in some other context 9I know i asked soemone lol) , but have you tested some new salt water with that kit?

Yes it’s higher now than June 15th. I added the turbo Fritz on the 19th which started the cycle. Nothing was happening with the nitrite or nitrate the previous 14 days I was running the tank.

When I tested the Red Sea with saltwater it didn’t show ammonia.i did a small water change of 20% before adding the turbo fritz.

 

[taricha]

Today’s results,

Using an ammonia calculator suggests 1-2 ppm total ammonia at pH 8.0 gives .05 to 0.10ppm free ammonia so the red sea and seachem alert film are likely in agreement.

 

[spamvicious]

Using an ammonia calculator suggests 1-2 ppm total ammonia at pH 8.0 gives .05 to 0.10ppm free ammonia so the red sea and seachem alert film are likely in agreement.

So do I just need to do a water change or am I seeing what happens in the next few days?

 

[taricha]

So do I just need to do a water change or am I seeing what happens in the next few days?

Nothing wrong with a 50% water change or two.

 

[spamvicious]

Nothing wrong with a 50% water change or two.

Did a 50% water change and tested the ammonia after and it was low. Tested against this morning and has shot back up again. The nitrates have dropped obviously cos of the water change but the nitrite is still the same.

I didn’t include a photo of the nitrate test as it’s barely visible on camera.

 

[spamvicious]

What is going on with the nitrite?? Ammonia is nearly gone but the nitrite is getting stronger

 

[taricha]

What is going on with the nitrite?? Ammonia is nearly gone but the nitrite is getting stronger

Yep. Looks great!
As you feed food, the protein gets broken down into ammonia.
so ammonia is being produced.
the nitrifying bacteria oxidize ammonia to nitrite
NH3 -> NO2
ammonia has a molar mass of ~17 or 18 depending on how you count. Nitrite a molar mass of 46, or ~2.5x as much.
So a modest amount of ammonia, say 2ppm can convert to 5ppm Nitrite which would be super dark and max out the test kit color.

later, more nitrifying bacteria - usually a different group - will oxidize the nitrite - NO2 into nitrate - NO3.
Nitrate has a molar mass of 62 or ~3.5x that of the ammonia. So a modest 2ppm ammonia can eventually end up as 7ppm nitrate. (unless photosynthetic stuff like algae grows and consumes some in the meantime).

The only fish health concern in this process is accumulating ammonia, and you have gotten past that - so you can relax on water changes now.

 

[spamvicious]

Yep. Looks great!
As you feed food, the protein gets broken down into ammonia.
so ammonia is being produced.
the nitrifying bacteria oxidize ammonia to nitrite
NH3 -> NO2
ammonia has a molar mass of ~17 or 18 depending on how you count. Nitrite a molar mass of 46, or ~2.5x as much.
So a modest amount of ammonia, say 2ppm can convert to 5ppm Nitrite which would be super dark and max out the test kit color.

later, more nitrifying bacteria - usually a different group - will oxidize the nitrite - NO2 into nitrate - NO3.
Nitrate has a molar mass of 62 or ~3.5x that of the ammonia. So a modest 2ppm ammonia can eventually end up as 7ppm nitrate. (unless photosynthetic stuff like algae grows and consumes some in the meantime).

The only fish health concern in this process is accumulating ammonia, and you have gotten past that - so you can relax on water changes now.

Now ammonia free which is great. The nitrite is still high and I think around 10pm on the nitrate. If the nitrate goes higher do I need to do another water change?

 

[taricha]

If the nitrate goes higher do I need to do another water change?

There's nothing wrong with doing a water change. But I wouldn't describe it as "you need to".
Doing water change to bring down the initial high nitrate/nitrite from cycling is a fine thing to do.

 

[spamvicious]

There's nothing wrong with doing a water change. But I wouldn't describe it as "you need to".
Doing water change to bring down the initial high nitrate/nitrite from cycling is a fine thing to do.

Did a small water change yesterday. 0 ammonia and 5-10ppm nitrate but the nitrite still isn’t shifting.

 

[taricha]

Did a small water change yesterday. 0 ammonia and 5-10ppm nitrate but the nitrite still isn’t shifting.

Right. The nitrite is off- the-scale high. So it'll have to drop pretty low before you'll see a change.

 

[spamvicious]

Right. The nitrite is off- the-scale high. So it'll have to drop pretty low before you'll see a change.

5 1/2 weeks and still got this reading on nitrites ‍

 

[taricha]

5 1/2 weeks and still got this reading on nitrites

Yes, but 3 weeks since the first bit of nitrite appeared. And just under 2 weeks since ammonia cleared.
This has been typical from what I've seen of Fritz. Nitrite takes multiple weeks longer to drop than ammonia.

Fortunately, we don't really care about nitrite (not harmful) except that it makes nitrate measurements unreliable.

 

[spamvicious]

Yes, but 3 weeks since the first bit of nitrite appeared. And just under 2 weeks since ammonia cleared.
This has been typical from what I've seen of Fritz. Nitrite takes multiple weeks longer to drop than ammonia.

Fortunately, we don't really care about nitrite (not harmful) except that it makes nitrate measurements unreliable.

That’s true. I keep forgetting the cycle technically started later. Thanks