Confusing test results

[jarrett181]

This is the results from a test at 12:39 am. I tested 3 times with the same results just to make sure everything was accurate......the reason I say it's confusing is because I have not done a water change yet this week the last time I did change the water the ammonia was higher than what it is now (even after the water change, after the previous change it was still between 1ppm-1.5ppm) but now there is very little if any ammonia at all present in the tank which is a good thing......however the test results also show 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate so I have no idea where all the ammonia went that was left over from my previous water change.(and yes I know I need to keep changing water until ammonia isn't present but someone on another post suggested doing no more than 50% at a time and then wait a few days to do another 50% I was about to do the other 50% change so I decided to do a before and after test for comparison and these were the results)

 

[Hebily]

Is it a planted tank?

Plants can consume all three, but they consume nitrAtes most easily.

It is also possible that a certain strain of bacteria has developed that converts nitrAtes into nitrogen gas. It is unlikely, because it requires very specific conditions, but it is possible.

 

[jarrett181]

No its all fake plants. I'm very confused by this test lol I have no idea how it happened.

 

[SnakeIce]

Have you calibrated your tests? Hobby tests have a sufficient margin of error that could account for that. Even lab grade tests have to be calibrated to be trustworthy and they are more precise to begin with. I'm not saying you did anything wrong, but that it could be the tests you have are a bit off. Take the results with a grain of salt.

 

[Hebily]

Another thing to consider: look at the numbers; 1 ppm ammo is pretty obvious, but if you had 1 ppm nitrAte, it may not be detectable - that scale starts at 5.

 

[tanker]

Are you adding ammonia or is it a cycled tank?

 

[jarrett181]

The tank is roughly 3 months old now. But I have had issues with really high ammonia. Once it even got to 8ppm. And nitrite and nitrate has never went past 0. So by this time the tank should have been cycled but for some reason it has not. And my previous test showed around 1.5 ppm ammonia and then this one is showing 0 so I'm not really sure where all the ammonia went to.

 

[rufioman]

The tank is roughly 3 months old now. But I have had issues with really high ammonia.

This. Are you sure the tank was 100% cycled, and is not trying to mini-cycle on you?

 

[Brian Feeder of Fish]

With the nitrAte test, did you make sure to follow the directions and shake the test liquids before adding to the sample, and then shake the sample really well after adding the liquid? With the chemicals they use, particularly the second one, for nitrAte tests, it is critical that you shake things well as per the directions. I didn't shake them the first few times, and I got a zero nitrAte reading. If everything is zero and the tank is established, that seems fairly reasonable.

Brian

 

[jarrett181]

I did....I shake it 30 seconds like the directions say before adding it to the tube and then once both chemicals are in then I shake it for 1 minute.(how the directions says to do it)