In-Fish Cycling w/Plants, Tap has natural nitrates

[jlieu]

Starting some new tanks after several years of being 'retired' from the hobby. A lot has changed in 5+ years!

So I finally tested the tap water today and it seems there may be natural nitrates in it and I was not quite sure how to interpret my test results given that. Apparently in the country, the county has some hard water compared to the city! In addition, with red clay being the natural soil around here, I am pretty sure carries tons of minerals with it which may explain the nitrates. In any case, I was hoping to get some help on how I should interpret the results.

The tap results were as follows: Ph 8.0, Ammonia ~0.10ppm (in between 0 and 0.25), Nitrite 0ppm, and Nitrate ~7ppm (in between 5 and 10).

In any case, as title stated, I have been cycling two 10-gal in-fish tanks for the last week or so. One traditional gravel (#1) and one 'Walstad inspired' (#2) with hand-filtered regular Earthgro (no unnecessary additives as far as I can tell) topsoil. Both are moderately planted with a variety of low-light and floating plants.

I am using the API Freshwater Kit for testing and Kordon Smart Start (Amquel Plus and NovAqua Plus). Little did I know about Seachem Prime/Safe until yesterday...so I'll be transitioning to that soon. Tetra Safe Start after test results on 6/12.

Here are two results of the tests (6/12 and 6/14). I have two more before that written somewhere (probably lost atm) before I started to just log it on my phone. Ammonia was a bit hard to tell for me since there is a bit of a gray area (at least to me) between 0ppm and 0.25ppm...results was mostly yellow with a hint of green so I just assumed it was in the 0.1ppm area.

Tank #1 @ 6/12
Ph 8.3, Ammonia 0.1ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 5ppm

Tank #2 @ 6/12
Ph 8.3, Ammonia 0.25ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 5ppm


Tank #1 @ 6/14
Ph 8.2, Ammonia 0.1ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 10ppm

Tank #2 @ 6/14
Ph 8.0, Ammonia 0.25ppm, Nitrite 0ppm, Nitrate 5ppm

Thanks in advance!

 

[Nepherael]

Well to test your tap I was told on here you need to fill up a cup and let it gas off overnight for an accurate reading so don't trust your tap results just yet.

As far as nitrates go I've read a few things and the general consensus is under 40ppm is fine and under 20 is ideal. If your tap has natural nitrates I've read that you want to keep nitrates under your tap reading plus 20ppm.

Looks like you're still in the first half of the cycle. Make sure you're treating your water before adding it to the tank with a chemical like Prime (which is pretty much the best. Prime will take care of harmful chemicals and slime coat for the fish. If you're worried about ammonia or nitrite spikes you can even dose up to 5x normal dose and it will neutralize it and keep your fish alive. It can be used that way every 24 hours in your tank and it saved me big time when I first started with a fish in cycle) and then the ammonia and nitrite readings from the tap won't mean much because you've neutralized them with prime. You never really want to add untreated tap water to a tank.

If you're looking for a jump start on your cycle I recommend getting a chemical called safe start made by Tetra. It is in a yellow bottle and can help your cycle finish in days. Some will say it didn't do anything for them and some will say it worked wonders. I myself did a fish in cycle and once my ammonia hot zero and my nitrite went up I found safe start and used it and my tank was cycled in less than a week. If you do look into it make sure you only get safe start. Any other bacteria in a bottle on a store shelf doesn't work (and dou le check the expiration sticker on the bottom of the safe start bottle)

 

[jlieu]

Ah ok. I'll let a cup and let it gas out and run another test on my tap water tomorrow.

I actually added Tetra Start after I did the tests on 6/12 (I only added 20ml of the 33.3ml required for 10gal so far). Not sure if it made a difference...but I'll add the rest later on this weekend. I only test the water every 2-3 days, but so far I have not seen the nitrite above 0ppm which I thought was odd. I suppose it could be the plants though.

All fishes (Platies) are doing fine today and happily swimming around and active. Previously, only the females were being shy and 'sat' on the gravel at times (they are much more 'normal' today though). They all always ate at meal time. Males are ALWAYS active and swimming about, occasionally getting tired of swimming against the filter current (usually rest for a min or two before going back swimming to one end of the tank to other again).

 

[jpappy789]

The off gassing is in regards to pH since the water will have dissolved CO2 which will read as a lower pH initially.

You should be trying to keep ammonia as low as possible. I'd suggest doing a water change whenever you get a reading...I'd also suggest that you start testing more often. Even at low levels long term exposure is not good.

 

[jlieu]

I currently mix the chemicals in a bucket before changing the water (~25-33%) which I typically do with the tests. However, as you can see water off the tap has traces of ammonia in it. In the previous week of testing it was (and has been) typically the same every day with the only significant changes being in ammonia and nitrates. Even then, ammonia has never been beyond 0.25ppm and nitrates has stayed between 5-10ppm so far. In any case, I appreciate the advice though.

 

[jpappy789]

Ah I missed the part about it being in your tap. Are you testing the tap water after treating it with the conditioners? If so, then you're probably getting a "false" reading from the break up of the chloramines. That ammonia should also be detoxified by the conditioner you have (I think specifically the Amquel) so what your test kit is picking up is the total ammonia, although some, if not all, of that isn't harmful to the fish. In time the bacteria colony should mature and be able to handle that ammonia in addition to your bioload.

 

[Nepherael]

Also you are not seeing nitrite yet because that doesn't happen until there is enough beneficial bacteria to sufficiently break down the ammonia. One your ammonia hits zero your nitrite will shoot up big time (I believe it's because the ammonia bacteria converts it to nitrite and then a different bacteria starts growing that converts nitrite to nitrate which is why the day that your ammonia hits zero you want to dose 5x the normal amount of prime because your nitrite will shoot very high and there won't be any bacteria to handle it. Nitrite's effect on fish is to basically make it harder for them to breath) With safe start it is best to add the whole treatment all at once and then leave it without a water change for a few days but make sure to dose once every 24 hours with Prime to neutralize the chemicals so the fish don't get that nasty exposure.

When I used it I was told on here to leave it for 6 days but it was also at the halfway point where my ammonia was gone. Prime and other water conditioners do neutralize ammonia and make it harmless to the fish and I'm not sure about other conditioners but I know Prime actually renders it into a harmless form to the fish but still in a form that can be broken down by beneficial bacteria. Which means it still allows beneficial bacteria to grow but helps you deal with high levels and your fishes health

Sent from my Droid Incredible using the Monster Aquaria Network app

 

[Star_Rider]

readings of ammonia will vary, as has been mentioned, if tap has chloramine many of the conditioners that treat will break the bond of the chlorine/ammonia.

prime bonds the ammonia with extra H and turns it into the less harmfull ammonium(NH4) ammonia(NH3)

this as mentioned can show as a 'false' positive or show on the ammonia test as most ammonia test test for total ammonia(NH3+NH4)

ammonia will rise as waste is produced by livestock.. plants can use amonia and if heavily planted ammonia may never show up(silent cycle)

if you get ammonia keep it no higher than .25ppm to prevent issues to the live stock. nitrite NO2 may show up with ammonia if bacteria are doing their job.

again.. planted tanks may throw a wrenchinto the works as ammonia levels may not get very high.