BIG nitrite and nitrate spike while cycling

[VisibleClownage]

Hi, i'm cycling a pico 5 gallon tank, and yesterday i tested my water and noticed that nitrites and nitrates were waaaay off the charts and the test kit didn't even have those colors. I used the digital test reader and it gave me this:

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 10
Nitrate: 250?

just a week ago i registered 1 ppm nitrite, 10 ppm nitrate, 0.5 ppm ammonia

I swear, and am pretty sure that nothing weird fell in the tank, and i haven't added any products; I only recently added a flow pump.

Could it be that I somehow overfed ammonia and all of it was trapped somewhere, then because i added the pump it got out and turned into nitrate? Yea seems pretty improbable

My test kit isn't flawed, I took some water and took it to be tested at my lfs and they gave me the same results.

+ my ammonia was stalled at 0.5-1 for a few weeks, so i think the fact that all of it is gone now has something to do with it.


All the analysis aside, now the important question: do I do a big water change now or should i wait until the nitrite become nitrate, so I can do a water change after that? (would be more convenient) I'm afraid all of that nitrate might stall the cycle.

 

[brandon429]

Your cycle is done, you’ve been cycling a few weeks is why

How to unstick any seemingly stuck cycle

non digital ammonia test kit readings (api, Red Sea, nyos, seachem badges) make you think you aren’t cycled when indeed you are if you owned a $200 expensive seneye meter, you’d never be doubting your cycle status. since .01% of the reefing population owns these, we need a way to help the...

www.reef2reef.com

post#1 proves you are ready, post a pic of your tank. Post number one there addresses your concerns, the cycle is done relative to the degree of attachment surface area you had in place. We can see that with pics

 

[regionreef219]

Once quick thing to note is that with a newly cycled tank that is still showing nitrite, your nitrate values will be wrong. Most nitrate tests will pick up when nitrite as well. Once the tank is established this is no longer a problem most of the time as the bacteria will quickly breakdown the nitrite into nitrate.

Once my tank was established I got much more consistent nitrate readings and was able to dial in my skimmer and water changes to keep nitrate constant.