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Re-Cycling My Tank: Nitrites vs. Nitrates

715 views 4 replies 2 participants last post by  LolaQuigs 
#1 ·
I had a 5g tank that cycled in about a month. I was ecstatic until I realized (on the day the cycle completed) that the tank was leaking. So I went out and got a new tank, and decided to upgrade to a 10g. I came here and asked what would happen to my cycle, and someone said that it would probably go through a 1 week mini cycle.

That turned out to be pretty accurate advice; my nitrites shot up almost instantly, stayed high for about four or five days,and then (yesterday) they started going down. Then today I saw that my ammonia was 0 and my nitrites were 0. I was so excited, I thought I was finally done cycling!

But the nitrates were only about 5-10 ppm, while they were very high at the end of my 5g tank's cycle. During this "mini cycle" of my 10g they never got high at all, not even today when everything else went to 0. So...what do the low nitrates mean? Did something go wrong with the process? Is my tank not cycled after all?
 
#2 ·
Did you do a water change?
 
#4 ·
Wait, do you want the Nitrates gone?
 
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