LCB1990
Seedling
Hi,
A couple of weeks ago I posted in the plant help section regarding poor growth across a number of plants, upon giving my water parameters it was likely that low nitrates (<10ppm) were the likely and logical reason behind this. To remedy and increase the nitrate levels in the tank I purchased Tropica Specialised liquid fertiliser (the green one) which contains the additional nitrogen.
Yesterday I did a water test out of interest to see if the nitrate level had increased, i've been using the fertiliser at half-dose strength before i would move on up to full doses. When I've done the test I've found the following results:
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 1-2ppm
Nitrate - 10-15ppm
I've never had an issue with Nitrite levels before, its always been 0ppm, my question is - is the liquid fertiliser directly causing these nitrite spikes due to additional nitrogen being added (I though the nitrogen was in the form of a nitrate salt??) or is there an ingredient/compound in the liquid fertiliser which effectively gives a false positive with the test kit?
In terms of the fish behaviour, they seem fine, no gasping for breath, acting as they always do - if I hadn't done the test yesterday out of curiosity, I would have had no idea of the apparent nitrite spike.
Thanks,
Lewis
A couple of weeks ago I posted in the plant help section regarding poor growth across a number of plants, upon giving my water parameters it was likely that low nitrates (<10ppm) were the likely and logical reason behind this. To remedy and increase the nitrate levels in the tank I purchased Tropica Specialised liquid fertiliser (the green one) which contains the additional nitrogen.
Yesterday I did a water test out of interest to see if the nitrate level had increased, i've been using the fertiliser at half-dose strength before i would move on up to full doses. When I've done the test I've found the following results:
Ammonia - 0ppm
Nitrite - 1-2ppm
Nitrate - 10-15ppm
I've never had an issue with Nitrite levels before, its always been 0ppm, my question is - is the liquid fertiliser directly causing these nitrite spikes due to additional nitrogen being added (I though the nitrogen was in the form of a nitrate salt??) or is there an ingredient/compound in the liquid fertiliser which effectively gives a false positive with the test kit?
In terms of the fish behaviour, they seem fine, no gasping for breath, acting as they always do - if I hadn't done the test yesterday out of curiosity, I would have had no idea of the apparent nitrite spike.
Thanks,
Lewis