Am I ready for Fish?

F

Freshwater Noob

AC Members
Dec 8, 2007
54
0
0
I tested my tank today and got the following readings:

Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrites - 0 ppm
Nitrates - 0 ppm

My only concern is that the nitrates have dropped off so sharply after my reading of about 60ppm a couple of days ago. Am I ready to add fish? Should I do a 75%-90% water change before doing so?
 
How were you cycling the tank? And how long has it been cycling?

The lack of nitrates has me concerned about your cycle as usually you should have a pretty high level once a cycle finishes...Then the big water change is done to reduce the nitrates before adding fish.
 
What test are you using ?

You are ready for fish, following a fishless cycle, when you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and nitrates slowly increasing, and this situation pertains over say a 24 hour period when you have added a source of ammonia to approximately say 4 ppm concentration.

The fact that you had nitrates and now have none despite no water change indicates to me that your test either today or a couple of days ago was faulty or not conducted correctly (I am presuming because you read 60 ppm that this is not a heavily planted set-up).

My advice is re-test with an API liquid drop kit, remembering on the Nitrate test to shake bottle 2 for 30 secs before adding, and shake the solution in the test-tube for one minute, then leave for 5 minutes before accepting the result.

In the meantime, because you don't want your bacteria to die off, and presuming you have been doing a fishless cycle, continue adding your ammonia source.
 
well I would still want to explore how it went from 60 to 10 with no water changes and no plants - and what test kit you are using.

also what source of ammonia you used.
 
:iagree:
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom