Hey all! New poster but this isn’t my first system. I used to have a 130 gallon system about 7 years ago but moved and took it down and now I’m starting over with the nuvo 15g.
Needless to say the cycling bacteria has come a long way since then. So I dosed my tank with Fritz and have been adding a little less than capful of stability every day for the cycle. Ammonia showed about 5 days into the cycle. It’s now a week later and the ammonias regressed, mind I’ve been doing 3 gallon water changes when ever she starts to crest over 1.5ppm. Yesterday I did a water change was about .75ppm est. today I'm light on the .5 side of the test and nitrites have popped up, which I expected however, I am also finding nitrates in the tank as well. Is this odd when dosing these bacteria’s? I realize I might have over done it with the bacteria dosing but I figure 2 brands, probably using different strains of bacteria and I was attempting to have a pretty diverse biome. No real bacteria blooms except for maybe a few days into it, lasted 24 hours and waters been crystal ever since. I have tested my r/o water and there is 0-0-0 so it’s not that. Just curious if anyone else has seen this before. Is it possible to skip the nitrite cycle?
Needless to say the cycling bacteria has come a long way since then. So I dosed my tank with Fritz and have been adding a little less than capful of stability every day for the cycle. Ammonia showed about 5 days into the cycle. It’s now a week later and the ammonias regressed, mind I’ve been doing 3 gallon water changes when ever she starts to crest over 1.5ppm. Yesterday I did a water change was about .75ppm est. today I'm light on the .5 side of the test and nitrites have popped up, which I expected however, I am also finding nitrates in the tank as well. Is this odd when dosing these bacteria’s? I realize I might have over done it with the bacteria dosing but I figure 2 brands, probably using different strains of bacteria and I was attempting to have a pretty diverse biome. No real bacteria blooms except for maybe a few days into it, lasted 24 hours and waters been crystal ever since. I have tested my r/o water and there is 0-0-0 so it’s not that. Just curious if anyone else has seen this before. Is it possible to skip the nitrite cycle?