Hello all, I'm currently performing the fishless cycle on my planted tank and I'm getting a bit of an odd reading this morning.

Things to note:
-my tank has been cycling for 7 days
-ammonia has been gradually coming down
-nitrite levels have been going up, but have not come down yet
-nitrate levels have continually risen, and last night nitrate reached 30 ppm
-all tests have been done with the same testing kit, it is the freshwater master test kit from API

I took off my hood last night after testing all three, ammonia was 2, nitrite was 10, and nitrate was 30. I took a bunch of my plants out, trimmed them, reorganized them by height and replanted them in my tank. Everything in my tank was moved around as I am still searching for the right 'look'. I added a tad bit of seachem flourish, and some seachem flourish excel to encourage plant growth on the trimmed plants.

This morning (9 hours later) I tested the water again. The results are:

ammonia 1.5
nitrite 12 (this is off the scale, but it is still going up)
nitrate 7.5

I didn't do any water changes and I didn't add or subtract any water last night. The only thing that could be consuming the nitrate is the plants right? Is it possible for the nitrate to go from 30 down to 7.5 in only 9 hours?

EDIT: I did the nitrate test 3 separate times this morning and all 3 show a reading of 7.5ppm

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20g Planted Tank (Still cycling)

Good morning nerd...

This is just an opinion, but when I cycle a tank, I let it run for a month before I worry about testing. The ammonia, nitrites and eventually nitrates are going to change constantly, which is normal.

Plants are a good addition and once planted can be left to help cycle the tank.

I don't think you need to do anything with the tank for another three weeks.

B

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Low Tech Water Building Keeper

Wait a week without testing, and see what happens. :3

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Maybe the test you did where you read 30 was wrong. The thing about the API nitrate test, you take the read after 5min. If you walk away and let the test sit it will continue to get darker and darker.....not that you did that.

I didnt know the nitrite test went to 12. Mine goes to 5. What do you have in there driving the ammonia level? Dosing ammonia?

Extrapolating the nitrite with a color wheel i assume it is 12 (I could be wrong). It doesn't much matter the value from what I understand since it is off the chart - I just need to wait until the nitrites get back down to 0 ppm. I have been dosing the tank with ammonia to keep the cycle going

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20g Planted Tank (Still cycling)

The readings you are getting are quite normal when you are in the middle of cycling. Eventually your Ammonia and Nitrites will decrease to near zero. Nitrate levels are normally very stable and will slowly increase until major water changes are made. Nitrite and Ammonia will spike again when you add fish. Overfeeding and fish deaths can also cause them to spike. I don't think Plant growth has an impact on Nitates in the short term but could easily over several months.

I'll just keep on waiting and trying to be patient. It's something that just takes time. I can't wait for everything to be ready finally

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20g Planted Tank (Still cycling)

One thing to remember is the live plant prefer to consumer ammonia for their nitrogen.

So if available ammonia will be unmeasureable but nitrates will rise as the plants are consuming the ammonia. Which is a very good thing for the stability of the system.

then as bacteria consume the ammonia the plants will use nitrates for nitrogen and (finally) the nitrates will start to come down.



my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden