Rainmaker69 Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 I set up my old 10 gallon tank Wednesday night, using substrate, rocks, and plastic plants that had all been in tanks before and were rinsed before adding. I put in an AquaClear mini with 2 sponges that had also been used before, but forgot to rinse. All of these items had sat dry for at least a year. I wanted to try to cycle the tank the European way, with prawns, so I added 4 frozen black prawns. Last night when I got home from from work, I noticed that the tank had a great bacterial bloom. When I tested, I was quite surprised. Temp 80F, ammonia 4, nitrites 1.6, nitrate 100. The nitrate I expected from the sponges and used decor but I did not expect the nitrites. Tonight when I tested, temp 80, ammonia 6.1, nitrites 0.1, nitrates <5. Where the hell did my nitrites and nitrates go? I did not do a waterchange or anything to the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aquanerd Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Could be faulty test kit. I never trust those test kits things. :bang1: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BooUrns! Posted February 10, 2007 Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Could you post a link to this "european" method of cycling? It sounds less caustic than the fishless cycling (store bought ammonia) method I've read about on WWM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rainmaker69 Posted February 10, 2007 Author Report Share Posted February 10, 2007 Could you post a link to this "european" method of cycling? It sounds less caustic than the fishless cycling (store bought ammonia) method I've read about on WWM. Sure, http://www.tropicaltankforum.co.uk/viewtop...e41613b12037013 It is basically the same thing but you are using rotting prawns to create the ammonia. It seems that pure ammonia is very hard to get over there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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