Week 5 STILL HIGH NITRITES (FISHLESS CYCLE)

[AntonioMinniefield]

Ok so I started my fishless cycle 5 weeks ago and everything SEEMED to be going right on schedule...but I noticed there was absolutely no drop in my nitrites. I finally thought about checking my tap water for nitrites earlier today and saw that it read 5 also. If this was not a misread, would this make my cycle impossible to accomplish??? If not, what can be done??? Thanks in advance for any feedback whatsoever.

[sunkenmetal]

are you using water conditioner when you do a water change?

[AntonioMinniefield]

Yes I am...i forget what its called but its a dechlorinator. Should I be using something else as well? and i really appreciate the speedy response.

[Totenkampf]

some say that Seachem Prime will throw off a test, i havent experienced it myself but I trust those who have wrote it.

[sunkenmetal]

which water conditioner are you using? What filter are you using? What test kit are you using?

[Totenkampf]

i was curious about this as well since i just switched to prime, my tanks are all cycled so i dont test much but seachem will recommend using there multitest kits when you have used prime as a declorinator since it is supposedly not affected by conditioners like prime. they also mention that prime will dissapate in 24 hours so you might wait that long and then test. they confirm that nessler based test kits wont work and salicylate based kits must be tested and compared immediately before the results degrade.

[AntonioMinniefield]

Not sure of the conditioner, I'll check and post when I get home tonight. Filter: aquaclear penguin 350, Test Kit: API

[ometh]

This maybe irrelevant but, where are you located and where is your main water line coming from? I've heard well water sometimes can contain high nitrate.

[sunkenmetal]

your fishless cycle how did you start it?

[AntonioMinniefield]

Im located in north dallas tx. I just moved here so I really have no idea where my water source comes from. I started my cycle by dosing with ammonia...up to 3pp...then i'd test and wait until it went nearly to 0 and i'd dose again. Been doin that the whole 5 weeks.

[sunkenmetal]

so your still adding ammonia?

[eklikewhoa]

Regardless of the water source once cycled it should consume all that too.

It will be a problem later on though.