KNO3 and Nitrite levels....

anchlo said:

Does this mean the tank is not fully cycled yet?

Click to expand...

umm. yes. But that seems like a ridiculous amount of nitrite--test kits (unless you sling around some dough) are notoriously inaccurate. Anyway, 3 weeks isn't that long unless you used some substrate/filter material from an established tank.

Are any of the inhabitants showing distress?

I see massive water-changes in your future.

no stress.... how much and how many water changes?

Oops I miss read the test kit... it is .25ppm.....

still a cause for concern?

thanks

just realized it's probably .25ppm, but it should still be zero. imo, the more water changes the better--daily if you can. 25-50% with dechlorinated water.

It's strange you're not seeing any NO3 reading with your dosing....

Feed lightly. You're about to get a million posters who think you need to do daily waters changes. I think you need to let it ride, but based on past experience, I'll be in the minority.

yea, i'd probably agree if it was my tank. water changes won't harm anything though.

This is probably bad but I dont/havent fed the fish yet.... only algae eaters so far...

Do a water change. Nitrite can do permanent damage to the fish. I know otos are fairly delicate, I'm not sure they will last long with measurable nitrites.

Does anyone really believe that a cheap nitrite test kit can be relied upon to distinguish between .25 ppm and zero ppm? It is highly unlikely that you have that much, if any, nitrite in the water. Just by having the tank heavily planted, and I am assuming it really is heavily planted, you can be sure there is a very small probability that you have any nitrite at all in the water. The nitrite would be there because the ammonia from the fish waste is being converted to nitrite, but with a heavily planted tank, the plants consume the ammonia before any can be converted to nitrite.

My advice would be to put the nitrite test kit back on the shelf, and just enjoy the aquarium for now.

Hoppy... Cool advice! The test kit is the cheap A.P.I. One... The color is really hard to read as it is not quite purple (which would indicate .25ppm) but not really at 0ppm ... The tank is very heavily planets with several fast growers, wisteria, hygro a., bacopa m. And ludwiga... Maybe I'm just way too parinoid. Thanks:icon_smil

your NO3 reading is 0ppm even though you're dosing KNO3. I'd say your test kit is wonky.
Just keep an eye out for the fish.

mistergreen said:

your NO3 reading is 0ppm even though you're dosing KNO3. I'd say your test kit is wonky.
Just keep an eye out for the fish.

Click to expand...

So if KNO3 is directly related to the rise of nitrites then why am I dosing 3/4tsp per the EI method? Should I cut out the KNO3 entirely or just reduce the amount? Confused?

anchlo said:

So if KNO3 is directly related to the rise of nitrites then why am I dosing 3/4tsp per the EI method? Should I cut out the KNO3 entirely or just reduce the amount? Confused?

Click to expand...

no, kno3 has nothing to do with nitrites. I'm just saying your test kit is probably unreliable because the Nitrate test should have read the KNO3.

Plants need Nitrogen, KNO3 is one way for plants to get N... They will also take up NH3/4, NO3 and probably nitrites ( NO2 ) too.

Bacteria also need Nitrogen. One will take in NH3/4 and the waste product is NO2 (nitrite). And another will take in NO2 and the waste product is NO3. This is the cycling process.