What happened??!?

[Humanblob]

I bought a 30 gal. tank about 6 months ago and i set it up, i let it run for a few months checking the levels of everything weekly and i let it run and just not i tested all the things and the ph is 7.4 , the nitrate and nitrite are 0, what does this mean, and the amonia is a very clear yellow , i dont have the card so i dont know what that means.

[amosf]

So, you have fish in there? Sounds like you have some ammonia but how much depends on how dark the yellow is. You may need a new kit so you can get an exact figure.

The other figures sound fine, but need more info about the tank and what's in it, ect.

tim

[Humanblob]

lol nothings in it....its just been sitting and the yellow is lighter than the lowest on the ammonia card

[fballguy]

Are you adding any source of ammonia? If you dont add ammonia in any form, your tank will not even start its cycle. Just letting it sit and run with nothing in it is useless.

[wataugachicken]

in the freshwater newbie forum (the one we're in now) there is a thread labeled "freshwater cycle" right near the top - read that! it will help you understand what should be done to make your tank safe for fish.

[Humanblob]

i know i know i read it and i had fish and that in it...now my levels for ammonia nitrite and nitrate are all 0....is that good or bad?

[amosf]

Hard to tell if it's good or bad. I'd try throwing something in there, like a shrimp. Let it rot and see what the levels do and see if the cycles finished or not started (which is likely).

There must be a little something rotting in there to make the ammonia you have now. Some old food, bugs, something...

tim

[Humanblob]

there was a live plant i put in there b4 and it rotted..

[Defiant1]

If the tank has been empty for months and the fish that were in there have died long ago, your cycle is no longer existent as there is no ammonia source. You basically have "dead" water. You need to introduce ammonia to re-start your cycle.

[Humanblob]

the fish didnt die they were in my tank for a few months and got moved to a differnt one a few months ago

[fballguy]

Yea try adding ammonia and see what happens. That will tell you if your tank is still cycled or not.

[Humanblob]

how can i add amonia? and if there was ammonia in it how do u bring it down to safe levels

[fballguy]

The easiest way would be to just throw in some fish food. You could get ammonia from the store and put a little bit in, just like when doing a fishless cycle, or you could add a fish(I don't reccomend it until you know what is up)

If the tank is cycled, ammonia will drop on its own. If not, you will have to cycle it following the directions on the cycle sticky thread.

[jm1212]

add some fish food and see what happens to the levels.

if you ahvent had anything in your tank for 6 months then the bacteria that eat up the ammoina and nitrite are long dead.