I had my tank for two weeks....I cycled with bio spira...I have some ammonia and some nitrite and a reading of nitrates also..I was wondering, is my tank cycled if I have a reading of nitrates..My readings are 1.5 ammonia, 5 nitrite and 25 nitrate..I know I need a water change but my fishes got a bacterial infection because of the water and I put medication in it...
Can you get a reading of nitrates even if your tank is not cycled?
- Thread starter watermelon
- Start date
It's always good to test your tap/well water as well to establish a baseline. My tap water comes with 20ppm Nitrates. This means as long as my tank test at this line, I haven't cycled. Give your tap water a test and see what the ammonia/nitrite/nitrates levels are in it.
As far as your readings go, I'd say you aren't cycled. 1.5ppm ammonia is a lot for fish (my poor guppies were dying at .5ppm). You are officially cycled when the ammount of ammonia your fish/waste/etc make in a day is neutralized into nitrate the next day. In other words, you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates. Nitrate levels of 40ppm is considered the upper safe level by the EPA. Generally, try to keep nitrates down to 20-40ppm above the baseline of "clean" water from your tap/well unles the water from your tap/well is extremely high (60-100 ppm).
And to think that a month ago I didn't know what a cycle (the aquarium kind)was...
As far as your readings go, I'd say you aren't cycled. 1.5ppm ammonia is a lot for fish (my poor guppies were dying at .5ppm). You are officially cycled when the ammount of ammonia your fish/waste/etc make in a day is neutralized into nitrate the next day. In other words, you should have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and some nitrates. Nitrate levels of 40ppm is considered the upper safe level by the EPA. Generally, try to keep nitrates down to 20-40ppm above the baseline of "clean" water from your tap/well unles the water from your tap/well is extremely high (60-100 ppm).
And to think that a month ago I didn't know what a cycle (the aquarium kind)was...
Chances are that the infections are *from* the water. If you don't change the water the infection is not going to get better, even with medication.watermelon said:
1.5 ammonia and 5 nitrite is deadly high. If you don't start doing water changes ASAP, your fish are going to die.
As LesbianChap said, test your tap water, it probably contains nitrates.
Can you tell us exactly how you cycled with Bio Spira? When did you put the fish in and did you put any more fish in after you cycled?
Roan
Watermelon --
You have three threads going about pretty much the same problem. Please keep everything in one post.
I already told you in another post what was going on with your tank. You cycled with Bio Spira and a few fish, then a week or so later you plunked a LOT more fish in the tank and caused it to cycle again.
You need to change the water DAILY and at least 50% at a time to get those ammonia and nitrite readings down or your fish are going to die.
Roan
You have three threads going about pretty much the same problem. Please keep everything in one post.
I already told you in another post what was going on with your tank. You cycled with Bio Spira and a few fish, then a week or so later you plunked a LOT more fish in the tank and caused it to cycle again.
You need to change the water DAILY and at least 50% at a time to get those ammonia and nitrite readings down or your fish are going to die.
Roan
A 10.00 fish is dying now...
I changed the water....I put salt in it for the nitrite poisoning...I just have one more day for the medication so that would be total of five days...
Roan Art, do you think I should buy bio spira again tommorow to improve things..I changed the water..I have 0 ammonia now..I was wondering, did you use bio spira before? And if I keep on changing the water, wouldn't it take a lot longer fo the whole cycle to complete...
I changed the water....I put salt in it for the nitrite poisoning...I just have one more day for the medication so that would be total of five days...Roan Art, do you think I should buy bio spira again tommorow to improve things..I changed the water..I have 0 ammonia now..I was wondering, did you use bio spira before? And if I keep on changing the water, wouldn't it take a lot longer fo the whole cycle to complete...
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Any ammonia or nitrite showing up on test kits means there is more than the current bacteria can handle. So even if after a water change the levels say zero that measn they are immediately starting to climb again. Keeping the levels as low as possible means the bacteria always have a little more food but not way more than they can handle.