Cycling Test Results

[spider crab]

Hi Folks,
Just started cycling my tank, 10 days into it now and had a few questions.
My ammonia is about .25 (maybe .5)PPM. I've been trying to take Nitrite readings, but I'm having a real hard time interpreting the color. I'm using Red Sea's mini lab. The color scale on Nitrite seems to run from pale light green and darker through a grey color on to progresively red/purple colors. The test results are showing sort of a extremely light blue color (Almost inperceptable from water). Is it possible I may have a bad set of reagents or is this possibly a zero reading?
FYI - I've been measuring nitrates around 5ppm.
My pH is runing somewhere around 8.4, but honestly I'm having a hard time really telling the colors apart. I'd say it was more towards the the 8.4 -8.6 end.If it does climb above 8.4 (or if I already am) what should I do to get it back down? What would be causing it to climb?
My general comments are that these tests (red sea labs) seem hard to read. Are there other tests people would recommend or like better? Maybe I'll get better at it as I get experience.
Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[ckkihei]

You probably have several more weeks for a full cycle, and even then you can expect several mini-cycles. I use a test kit by Tetra.....great results. It would be a good idea to bring a sample to your lfs at least once a week and let them test your water, then you can compare their results to yours and learn about reading the color scales. Good luck!!
55ga
3" bed of LS
10 lbs LR
UV sterilizer
Emporer 400 dual bio wheel
tomato clown
royal gramma
blue damsel
blue fin chromis
banded shrimp
anemone
2 sand stars
3 scallops
feather duster
scooter blenny

 

[kris]

i agree, take your results to the lfs for comparison, then you'll know if yours are right and that you are reading them right. Most tests have color charts which are a pain and can sometimes leave you guessing, or saying....Well its somewhere between this and that.
It sucks, just do the best you can, and double check the amount of drops, and the directions.

 

[ofalegend]

You probably won't see a nitrite spike until the Ammonia is back down to Zero. My tank cycled in this fashion, as I'm sure everyones does...the Ammonia spiked first, and then started slowly decreasing. Trace to no nitrites during that process. After the ammonia fell to 0, the nitrites starting climbing and spiked, then they slowly fell back to 0 Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm relatively certain this is how the cycle works.