No ammonia, No nitrites, no nitrates. other new tank problems....

[DarkSoul]

Ive been checking my water more frequently the last week or so (once a day to be exact) and changing my water daily, somewhere around, but not exceeding 50%, despite the readings.

I put a betta in the tank, and he seems happy, although I do have trouble trying to judge his health at that of his fins.

Why do I not have any readings yet? is it due to the plants I have in my tank?
how do I know when the tank is ready for more fish?

Also Ive got algae growing everywhere on my plants, or my sword plant anyway.
the leaves are turning brown'ish or are full of spots and see through patches, and it has a brown/red/rust spotty algae growing all over it, as well as some kind of white algae that looks like plant roots growing out of the plant from everywhere, and some 2 or 3 little tufts of some green fluffy algae, stringing off the plant.


what is going on with my tank? I just want it to be healthy, happy, and algae free.
my other plants seem to be doing OK, but still have algae on them, just not as much.


There is also a baby snail somewhere in the tank... i lost him yesterday, a few hours after I found him..... when could I expect to see him next cause I cant find him now.

[mellowvision]

don't sweat it DS... in two of my three tanks I've only seen amonia and nitrites a couple of times, and can't remember seeing nitrates. between the plants and the small bioload, you may not ever see anything. just add fish slowly... adding too much at a time will probably cause a spike, since you probably have a very small amount of bacteria...

[DarkSoul]

so how often should I be changing the water? Ive been doing it every other day for the most part should I keep up with for X number of days/weeks before I switch to weekly maintenance?

[mellowvision]

if you change it too much, you may stunt the bacterial growth you're looking for... it sounds like you have clean water, I'd let it go for a few days and take readings. change it after a week, or when you see amonia or nitrites rise... whichever comes first.

[Star_Rider]

changing water will have little to no impact on the biological bacteria you seek.

how heavily planted is the tank?

if the plants are established and the tank is heavily planted you may not see ammonia.

ammonia is the preferred fert the plants use.

that said..if you are getting 0,0,0 across the boards..back off the wc for a day and see.

the brown spots you see,..are they easily rubbed off?the tank less than 1 yr old?

I'd place my money on brown algae..aka diatoms.

no big deal they are a frequent problem in new tanks. they are attributed to excess silicates in the tank which can come from substrate and or glass aquariums.
eventually the silicates will drop and the diatoms will receed. until then .it is one of the easiest algaes to remove..it does grow back quickly.
if it gets really bad you can add an oto(I usually don't recommend this as in some cases the oto's will only eat the diatoms..and will starve when they are gone.)

[wataugachicken]

for the sword plants, add a liquid iron supplement.

[DarkSoul]

the tank is a little over a month old, and not fully cycled. I dont think its heavily planted, but it might be.

Currently growing are
9 cabomba
6 Bacopa monnieri (moneywort?)
6 Bacopa rotundifolia (Dwarf Bacopa??)
5 Red water temple
3 hornwort (was a single one I pulled apart)
1 Lg Sword

the sword isnt looking quite so good, with the brown spots, and the water temple as well, bu the others seem to be growing very nicely.

and yes the brown spots are fairly easily wiped off, and do grow back fast.

I wont be able to pickup any flourish excel or iron supplements until payday, which is 5 days off.

[jonnyfry]

its heavily planted compared to the bioload . you may just have a silent cycle . chances are you will never see any measurable ammonia , nitrites or nitrates . unless you add nitrates for your plants .

[jm1212]

it sounds like the brown spots are brown algea, a diatom. its common in new tanks, and will go away on its own eventually