Questions about cycling a tank

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iamn0angel

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Apr 29, 2014
Messages
4
Location
North Carolina
Hi,

I have a 20 gallon non-planted tank that has been running about 10 weeks now. It has had 3 white cloud minnows in it since the beginning. I have been doing 10-20% water changes weekly to bi-weekly. I do not overfeed the fish.

My ammonia spiked at 4 then started going back down but I have never had a reading on nitrate or nitrite. I was using the API liquid test ammonia kit but the Tetra strip kit for the rest of the tests. I thought maybe that was the problem and ordered the API master liquid kit but I still get a 0,0 reading on nitrates and nitrites. My ammonia was hovering at 0.5 for several weeks but just tested it today and it is 0.25. I don't understand what is going on. Does anyone have any ideas? Thanks so much!

**Don't know if it matters but I have a Marineland Penguin 30-50 gallon filter and the water temp is 78 degrees.
 
Last edited:
Pretty odd, went and looked up the conversion and nitrates should be high. Have you tested ph? Nitrites should be 0 by now so possibly that is ok.

Ammonia seems a little high (see what ph comes back as).

Do you have plants? Last one is are you sure you are doing the test correctly as per instructions for nitrate to shake, etc.

[FONT=&quot]1 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT] ammonia --> 2.7 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT] nitrite --> 3.6 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT] nitrate.[/FONT]
 
Hello iam...

It's not a mystery to me why the tank chemistry isn't stable after so long a time. You have no plants. Tanks need three things: water, plants and fish. These three work together to maintain a healthy tank. The keeper of the water, you, changes half the tank water every week. Get the tank planted. Anubias, Java fern, Christmas moss, Anacharis and Hornwort are all easy to grow and will help settle the tank.

B
 
I'd be willing to bet you a liquid test kit that those strips just arnt registering the trace amounts of nitrates in your tank... They're pretty useless, with such a small bio load the nitrates will remain low, present but low... Wouldn't be a bad idea to invest in the liquid kit.. If I'm wrong send me the bill;)
 
Yes the nitrate test is tricky with the liquid test kit. Make sure you are definitely doing it correctly.

Ph could be the issue here. What's the ph of the tank water 24 hours after a water change?
 
Thanks for reply!

Pretty odd, went and looked up the conversion and nitrates should be high. Have you tested ph? Nitrites should be 0 by now so possibly that is ok.

Ammonia seems a little high (see what ph comes back as).

Do you have plants? Last one is are you sure you are doing the test correctly as per instructions for nitrate to shake, etc.

[FONT=&quot]1 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT] ammonia --> 2.7 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT] nitrite --> 3.6 [FONT=&quot]ppm[/FONT] nitrate.[/FONT]

Thanks so much for your reply! To answer your questions....

-The pH was 8.2 last time I checked (which is the only time I have checked with the liquid test kit). This was approx. 24 hrs after a water change.

-I do not have plants - I do have driftwood which is definitely releasing tannins (don't know if that makes a difference but I read it is supposed to lower pH).

-I have followed the instructions exactly and did the test twice with the same results so I don't think that is the issue.
 
Thanks for your help!

Yes the nitrate test is tricky with the liquid test kit. Make sure you are definitely doing it correctly.

Ph could be the issue here. What's the ph of the tank water 24 hours after a water change?

The pH was 8.2 last time I checked which was approx 24 hours after a water change.

Can you give me more info on what the pH relationship with ammonia or nitrates/nitrites is?
 
Thanks for your reply

Hello iam...

It's not a mystery to me why the tank chemistry isn't stable after so long a time. You have no plants. Tanks need three things: water, plants and fish. These three work together to maintain a healthy tank. The keeper of the water, you, changes half the tank water every week. Get the tank planted. Anubias, Java fern, Christmas moss, Anacharis and Hornwort are all easy to grow and will help settle the tank.

B

BB - Thanks for your suggestion. I thought about starting with a planted tank but I am new to the aquarium world and the thought of worrying about the health of my fish AND the health of my plants did not appeal to me. I wanted to start with fish and then possibly add plants later....

That said, I have read about/talked to many people who have successfully cycled a tank without using live plants or even live fish. I am mainly concerned with making sure my tank is cycled at this point. :)
 
Thanks so much for your reply! To answer your questions....



-The pH was 8.2 last time I checked (which is the only time I have checked with the liquid test kit). This was approx. 24 hrs after a water change.



-I do not have plants - I do have driftwood which is definitely releasing tannins (don't know if that makes a difference but I read it is supposed to lower pH).



-I have followed the instructions exactly and did the test twice with the same results so I don't think that is the issue.


Could be worth testing tap water just to check everything and see what you get ( take ph 24hrs after standing in container to let de gas).

Tank ph sounds fine.

Ammonia going down sounds like it was getting processed by bb (unless water changes were doing it).

How are you cleaning the filter and what sort of media is in it? I saw there was a bio wheel (never used these) and sounded like floss/carbon cartridges?
 
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