# Not sure about my next step here



## Fishvault11 (Apr 5, 2021)

Hi all. i have 19.8L 5.3 US Gal tank that i have been doing a fishless cycle with since the end of april. I've had just ammonia for a while now until today when Nitrite and Nitrate both appeared suddenly in large quantities. 
before water change the levels were way above what the test kit could read, i think so i did 50% water change and the current readings are: Ammonia 4ppm Nitrites 5ppm and Nitrates 160ppm.

Is this still too high? or is this okay to wait for the ammonia and nitrites to go down? It still seems relatively high though I admit I have a little difficulty differentiating between the different colour shades as i am visually impaired. 

Thanks in advance


----------



## anewbie (Mar 8, 2021)

All the values are way too high - i would recommend a 80% water change and reduce the amount of ammonia you are putting in - you want a little to keep the bacteria alive but - ammonia and nitrites need to be near 0 before you add fish (near zero means below 0.5); nitrate should be below 40ppm.


----------



## Fishvault11 (Apr 5, 2021)

anewbie said:


> All the values are way too high - i would recommend a 80% water change and reduce the amount of ammonia you are putting in - you want a little to keep the bacteria alive but - ammonia and nitrites need to be near 0 before you add fish (near zero means below 0.5); nitrate should be below 40ppm.



That's what i had thought. I've actually never added anything more than what i added initially and the Ammonia has stayed consistently high throughout, it hasn't dropped at all.

I know that it needs to be near 0 and so I was a little worried when the values were still so high.


----------



## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

It's too high for fish, but you can likely wait for the nitrite to go down and nitrate to come up. Then you do as close to 100 percent water change as you can manage and then test before adding fish.


----------

