Have I done something wrong?

[garlinto]

A few weeks ago I started a fishy cycle and am now done with it. However, my water readings are kinda weird so I wondered if all is well:

pH: 8.0
NH3: 0.00
NO2: 0.00
NO3: >0.00

I'm glad to see that the ammonia and nitrites are at 0.00ppm, but so are the nitrates. For the last 5 days or so, I've tested 0.00ppm for both ammonia and nitrites, and nitrates have gone steadily from close to 5.0ppm to now just a hair over 0.00.

I have live plants in the tank. Could they be consuming the nitrites? The water is crystal clear and the fish are active and eat voraciously. The tank is a 10G with a load of 7 small fish: 4 otos, 3 plattys, and one betta.

Any ideas?

 

[vampie]

Plants do take in nitrates, so that's a likely possibility.

 

[garlinto]

Ok, so do the fish need some measurable amounts of nitrates, or is it ok if there are no nitrates present?

Can I go ahead and add more fish?

 

[J double R]

what is the level of planting in the tank? if the tank is very heavily planted, it is likely that your cycle will not be measurable.

if the tank has a few sparse plants, they are not the cause and you need to look into your cycling methods.

 

[fgump]

Ok, so do the fish need some measurable amounts of nitrates, or is it ok if there are no nitrates present??

The lower the level of nitrates, the better. Fish don't need nitrates at all, and in high doses is bad for them.

Also are you using strips or a liquid test kit to test the water? The strips aren't accurate at all, and can read 0 even if it's not really 0.

 

[ZSandmann]

Are you shaking the Nitrate test solution for a full minute before adding the drops to the water, then shaking it again?

 

[garlinto]

I use the reagent test kit and test for ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and pH levels nightly. I do agitate reagent #2 for the nitrates test for 30 seconds as directed on the back of the nitrates color card before I add the drops to the solution. I also agitate the vial after all the drops have been added for 1 minute before I set it down to wait the 5 minutes for the test to complete. Is this correct?

 

[jm1212]

sounds correct.

if your tank is heavily planted, or you only have one or two fish in the tank and it is moderatley panted, the plants will use up all of the nitrates. once you fully stock your tank, you should start to see more

 

[Rbishop]

And if heavily planted, you may end up needing to add nitrates.

 

[garlinto]

And if heavily planted, you may end up needing to add nitrates.

Well, I tested again last night and I'm measuring zeros across the board again, but nitrates are somewhere between 0.00 and 5.00ppm. So with load I currently have, the nitrates are just barely staying ahead of the plants.

I plan on increasing the amount of fish in the tank so this should help keep my plants healthy too.