Ammonia Dropping but 0 Nitrites

[CrackFox]

It's now day 8 since I started dosing my 15Gl tank with pure ammonia. I managed to get the level of ammonia to about 3ppm and for the last couple of days the numbers have been dropping. Today I read the result as 0.5. I'm using the api liquid test kit and have double checked and asked other people's advice on the readings. The strips that I was using indicated that there was no nitrites present in my tank and I figured the strips were simply wrong, however today I tested for nitrites with an api liquid test kit and it told me the same thing. The nitrite reading for my tank is zero, but then why is the ammonia dropping? I'm very confused. My tank is relatively small and with the heater turned up so high (about 28C) it's causing a lot of condensation and the water level is quickly dropping, could that be the reason the levels are going down? Should I add some more ammonia or just wait and see what happens?

Also today I added a moss ball from an established tank, I just hope it has some magic powers

[imma24]

Do not add more ammonia - wait until it gets to 0 and then again more up to 2.0ppm - a tank your size doesn't need that much bacteria to grow - eventually, you will see nitrites and you can then add ammonia up to 1.0 to keep growing bacteria.

[CrackFox]

Do not add more ammonia - wait until it gets to 0 and then again more up to 2.0ppm - a tank your size doesn't need that much bacteria to grow - eventually, you will see nitrites and you can then add ammonia up to 1.0 to keep growing bacteria.

Thanks for the quick response. I'm very confused though, shouldn't I already be seeing nitrites since the ammonia level is already going down?

[imma24]

From what I've read on other posts, sometimes it can take 2 doses of ammonia before you'll see nitrites

[ijankrom]

Maybe during conversion the same amount is not passed in next level, e.g. 4ppm of ammonia will you give you 2ppm of nitrite. ?? It's difficult to test when you have an established tank.

[imma24]

I don't think the initial amount of ammonia determines how high nitrites will get - I know that sometimes someone will put in way more ammonia than needed (like 6ppm in a 10gal tank) and then they complain they aren't seeing the ammonia drop or nitrites show up at all.

Kickstarting the cycle by spiking the initial ammonia appropriate to the tank size & adding it regularly will lead to a spike in nitrites at some point.

[dmagerl]

Ammonia just doesnt disappear. Perhaps you've skipped the nitrate stage. Maybe there are already enough nitrite eating bacteria to converte it all to nitrate. Have you checked for nitrate?

[imma24]

Actually, I've seen that happen when doing a fish-in cycle (not seeing a reading for nitrites) but I would think it would be rare to not see nitrites during a fishless cycle.

[ijankrom]

Actually, I've seen that happen when doing a fish-in cycle (not seeing a reading for nitrites) but I would think it would be rare to not see nitrites during a fishless cycle.

It will be interesting to see if she has levels of nitrates. Would be extremely rare if she already has the bacteria to convert nitrite, especially if its dependent on the bacteria to convert ammonia.

@CrackFox - did you add anything else to your water besides conditioner? Did you get gravel or anything like from another tank?

[CrackFox]

Ammonia just doesnt disappear. Perhaps you've skipped the nitrate stage. Maybe there are already enough nitrite eating bacteria to converte it all to nitrate. Have you checked for nitrate?

The strips I was using also covered Nitrate and that also give me a reading of 0.
I don't think my tank would cycle that quickly.

It will be interesting to see if she has levels of nitrates. Would be extremely rare if she already has the bacteria to convert nitrite, especially if its dependent on the bacteria to convert ammonia.

@CrackFox - did you add anything else to your water besides conditioner? Did you get gravel or anything like from another tank?

About three weeks ago I added Nurafin Cycle for three days straight as I was advised to do so from the pet store owners. I only did this for three days and I haven't added anything other than dechlorinator since. I've also done a 50% water change since then. I don't have anything from another tank, only a moss ball which was only added a couple of hours ago.