Cycling Woe's

[cheryl]

im not just using sydney water (especially cause im not in sydney

). I am using tank water which has been purified. This will take out *all* salts. With axolotls liking hard water im trying to figure out what to put back in. My tests also say they need some salts in the water .
im not being impatient (not very, anyway). My results are not consistant with what should be happening. I have ammonia and nitrates but no nitrites. I thought i needed nitrites to get nitrates??
i took out most of the food several days ago- there is just a very small piece in there now (maybe half the size of a 5c coin).

 

[edward]

When you mean purified are you referring to water that has been passed through a water softener, a reverse-osmosis filter, a distiller or an ion absorbion bed?

Ed

 

[cheryl]

It has been passed through a "water filter candle". the pack mentions that it removes giardia, ccryptosporidium, chlorine, chemicals, metals, sediment, taste and odours. it is 1 micron porosity and is filled with activated carbon.

i tested the water for ammonia and nitrites this morning- ammonia 0.5 (from 1), nitrites still 0. yesterday nitrates were 10 but i didnt test them today. surely i should have nitrites??

 

[edward]

okay your filter does not remove salts, it is a carbon filter with a fine prefilter to remove particulates. Unless there is an ion bed included it does not remove salts.
You are correct, you will not see nitrates without nitrites, however it is possible to miss the rise of the nitrites if that bacteria gets rapidly established (its population is limited by the nitrite production). I would still suspect that your test kit is not accurate though.

Ed

 

[cheryl]

ok great. the salts issue is one less thing to worry about. i gave you all the information on the pack of the filter candle, so im assuming there is nothing extra (im sure they would have advertised it if there was).
i am setting up a tank with a homeschool group i go to. When testing their tank (1 week into the cycle), i did get a reading for nitrites.
is it reasonable to assume that i missed the nitrite spike and that when my ammonia is at 0, providing my nitrates have risen that the tank is cycled?

 

[edward]

Yep, it would be reasonable given that the test is working in a different setup. This does happen from time to time, it is just not common.

Ed

 

[cheryl]

I tested the tank i am doing with the kids today. ammonia is 0.25 (down from 4), nitrites are 2 and nitrates are at 5.
do you have any theories about why the test will not detect nitrites in my tank at home? It all seems to be going perfectly for the other tank.