I need your thoughts and suggestions

[KantGetRite]

I have a 15g column tank. I did a fishin cycle with 3 platys and a neon tetra (before I had the platys I had a small school of tetras that died and left the one). These have been the readings for the last 5-6 days:

pH: 7.6
Ammonia: 0ppm
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 0ppm

I believe my tank has cycled fully and decided to take a risk and buy 4 more neon tetras and an additional platy. My readings have not changed in the last 24-36 hours since I added the new fish and everyone seems to be doing fine.

My question is this:

A) Is my tank fully cycled? and if it is, then why are there no nitrates at all?

B) What additional fish would you recommend to add to the tank in a few days so that it is fully stocked but not over-stocked?

 

[Oohitsae]

Do you have plants in the tank? If not, you should have nitrAtes showing if it's cycled.

I'd do a small school of neons, and then maybe some shrimp for the bottom tank. Column tanks are really tricky to stock because they are tall rather than long and most fish need that vertical space over the vertical. I'd say angels would be a really good choice for a column, but they need atleast 30g so they are out as well.

 

[KantGetRite]

Well there are a good bit of fish already in the tank and their eating and pooping but there are no nitrites or Ammonia so something has to be working right? I've heard under stocked tanks and really clear tanks don't register Nitrates all the time. I was thinking a small school of tetras but I like bigger bright fish too :/

 

[azmodan]

Were you testing with the API master test kit? Did you shake and bang the heck out of the nitrate bottle?

 

[KantGetRite]

I'll try it tomorrow when I test it. And yes I use API master test kit

 

[azmodan]

Yup just go to town that thing shaking it up!

 

[KantGetRite]

Do you think my tank would be overstocked if I added 4 rasbora and a ghost shrimp or two?

My problem is that every website has different lengths for plates and tetras so doing the math for 1" to 1 g is challenging. I want it to be as fully stocked as possible without jeopardizing my fish.

As a reminder I currently have 5 neon tetra and 4 platys (sunburst, red wag, blue, and red Mickey Mouse)

 

[Mebbid]

the 1"/g rule is outdated and really quite useless nowadays. Fish bio loads play a huge part in stocking fish. I would try out AqAdvisor - Intelligent Freshwater Tropical Fish Aquarium Stocking Calculator and Aquarium Tank/Filter Advisor to check the stocking level on your tank to see if it's overstocked or not. That website is a good rule of thumb but it's generally safe to go to about 130% stocking on tanks.

I agree with it being odd that nitrates aren't showing up. However the ammonia and nitrite tests are nearly impossible to do wrong so if they are showing 0ppm then yes, your aquarium is most likely cycled.

 

[Oohitsae]

Do you think my tank would be overstocked if I added 4 rasbora and a ghost shrimp or two?

My problem is that every website has different lengths for plates and tetras so doing the math for 1" to 1 g is challenging. I want it to be as fully stocked as possible without jeopardizing my fish.

As a reminder I currently have 5 neon tetra and 4 platys (sunburst, red wag, blue, and red Mickey Mouse)

You should be fine adding that to your stock, but personally, I'd remove a platy or two and then add 1 more to the rasboras and add like 5-10 ghost shrimp. Ghost shrimp, and shrimp in general, have next to no bioload so you can add quite a few in there without a major impact to the system, I've heard people say up to 10 per gallon is still fine, and in my experience that's true.

 

[KantGetRite]

So I took everyone's advice and I shook the crap out of the nitrate bottle before I tested about 10 minutes and still there are no traces of ammonia, nitrites OR nitrates :/ I plan on adding rasboras or tetras and the ghost shrimp on Friday. This nitrate thing is frustrating though.