Nitrates

[MandolinSuperstar]

hi all. i have a 75 gallon tank with an AC 110 HOF which has been setup for 14 months (and no problems that werent self inflicted and none in last 5 months). i aquired a test kit yesterday and tested for the first time in about 12 months. ph = 7.8, amm. = 0, nitrite = 0, nitrate = 0 (maybe 5, hard to read color but looked closer to 0 to me). now i have been doing 40% weekly water changes (last done 5 days ago), and i only have ~9 inches of fish in the tank (5 fish). my plan is to fully stock the tank soon, but im concerned i cant get a nitrate reading. should i be worried that my tank isnt properly cycled? other items that might be useful information: i dont clean hof beyond slushing the mechanical filtration in a bucket of aquarium water once a month, i gravel vac my water changes, and my heater broke (replaced yesterday) and water was 10 degrees colder than my target at time of test. also i ran these tests twice to be sure. thanks in advance,

 

[MandolinSuperstar]

sorry meant to put this in general forum...

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

What brand test kit did you get? A 75g tank with 9" of fish for 12 months and doing 40% weekly PWCs is very lightly stocked, so it doesn't surprise me that you have only 5ppm Nitrate. The biological capacity of the filter will synch with the bio-load of the tank. When you add more fish, there will be a small mini-cycle while the bio-colony adjusts to additional load, but since your filter is established it will likely be undetectable, as long as you add the fish slowly. I would suggest adding a few fish at a time and give the tank time to balance out without throwing the levels off. This also would be a good time to develop a stocking list, putting in the least territorial/aggressive fishes in first (if that's even an issue)

 

[MandolinSuperstar]

thanks. thats what i was hoping for. the test kit is the api master kit. i am nearly done doing a fishless cycle on a new 20g tank. i plan had planned on moving out my current fish (-9in), increasing ph, then fully stocking with ~15 juvinile malawi cichlids all at once. i assume if i monitor water quality and maybe throw in a couple extra PWC, this will not overwhelm the biology of my tank. fair assumption?

 

[HN1]

Yes it is. In the case of wanting to stock all at once (smart with africans), you may get a mini-cycle like Floyd mentions. Careful attention to test results and a few extra PWCs will get you and the fish through in no time.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

Run the API test again, and make sure that:

#1) you shake the reagent #2 bottle vigorously for at least 30 seconds - there is a precipitate that you must get into solution.

#2) After adding reagent #2, cap (and hold tightly) the vial and shake vigorously for a full 60 seconds

#3) make sure to wait the 5 minutes, no shorter or longer.

The API Nitrate test kit is the only one that really needs to be done a certain way to get consistent results.

 

[MandolinSuperstar]

thank you for the great advice & responses. Floyd, i did not do step 1 of your post, and will retry the test as soon as i get home.

 

[Floyd R Turbo]

That would explain a zero reading. I've seen LFS employees skip that step, saying that the bottles get shaken up once or twice a day anyways. You need to do it every time. Post your results, I'd be interested to see the difference.

 

[MandolinSuperstar]

my nitrate is now ~20. kinda feel dumb now that i read the instructions (i guess they only put half the instructions on the bottle?). thank you Floyd, im quite sure i wouldnt have thought of that on my own. i definately feel better knowing my bugs are doing something!

 

[WendiDell]

Good information on the Nitrate test. I didn't know about those "minor" details either.
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