What's going on???

[legendaryfrog]

hi everybody. about a week ago i set up a new 160 gallon freshwater aquarium. i have everythin inside except the fish. Today when i tested the water i had 0 ammonia, and 0 nitrites. i was like wtf?? when i set up my first aquarium bout 4 years ago i had to wait a month to get the nitrites to 0.

anyt explanations to such a thing?

 

[legendaryfrog]

or does the nitrite and ammonia appear after i put the fish in?

 

[jm1212]

if you have just let it sit with out any bioload, then the tank is not cycled, hense no nitrites or ammonia.

 

[legendaryfrog]

I did just realize no waste = no ammonia.

thanks

 

[Zastrus]

You need a fish in there, or you can do fishless cycling.

 

[jm1212]

add some fish food to your tank and you'll start to see ammonia in a few days and then nitrite in a few weeks.

you should add a pinch of flakes every three days to keep ammoina levels high enough for the bacteria to start to grow.