0 Ammonia but high nitrite and nitrate!

[Diecypt]

Hello, I been experiencing difficulties with cycling my 36 gallon tank. I just changed the water and did a test and the nitrite level was 5.0+ and the nitrate was 40 to 80. Ammonia remained zero and I have searched forums and this seems like my tank is still cycling. I have a few questions though as when the nitrite would drop. I heard when you are done, the nitrite will be zero but what about the nitrate? Will it drop too when the cycle is done or do I have to change the water? I currently have some fish in there and got tricked by some salesman saying it will be fine using tetra or API QuickStart. My fish seems fine for now and all leaving peacefully. The problem is what is causing my nitrate to spike? I mean I just did a 25% water change. Should I wait two days before measuring or doing another water change?

My current fish
- 2 swordfish
- 6 albino corys
- 1 rainbow shark
- 1 angelfish
- 2 guppies
- 1 platy
I also have 2 amazon swords and 1 melon plant.

If this is overstocking, I have a spare 10 gallon that I can more them into.

 

[spiketooth]

You will want to bring your nitrite down so yes do another water change. For your nitrate only way for it to be zero is a heavily planted tank. Average is between 10-25 which is safe for your fish

 

[spiketooth]

your a little overstocked, sorry i didn't see this question. this is just my opinion i would move the guppys platy and three corys to the 10 gal. just another note your rainbow shark might get up to 6 inchs but most i seen has been 4-5 inch. but theirs a chance he could get to six

 

[Coyne]

Even after your tank has cycled, the nitrates are going to be constantly increasing (unless, like Spiketooth said, you have lots of plants). This is the main reason why its recommended you do weekly water changes.

You said your nitrites were at 5ppm!? Im surprised your fish are alive.

 

[Diecypt]

Well when I did the water test, it was purple so I could not tell if it was 1.0, 2.0 or 5.0 ppm. Could not identify which shade of purple.

 

[jamlo]

I would suggest doing a 90% pwc to get those Nitrites down. To get the levels down do 90% changes every day for afew days until your test is reading around 0.25ppm. Anything higher for a prolonged period you risk damaging your fish. Fish do not have any tolerance for toxins and can soon become sick and die if these pwc's aren't kept up with. To tell the different shades of purple: 0.50ppm quite weak purple, 1.0ppm a little darker, 5.0ppm very dark scarlet purple then 2.0ppm somewhere in between. Not a great method granted but it does help.

 

[Budda619]

How long have you been cycling. Is this a new tank? You are definitely over stock. How many fish did you add at one time, and when.

It seems your tank has not built enough bb to sustain the ammonia that is being put out by your livestock. Yes i would move out some fish so you can control the water parameters more effectively

 

[Budda619]

Btw with color chart water test, i was always told if you cant decipher between two shades always round up to the top color. Better safe than sorry. Nano tanks are unstable, without consistent water changes. If something goes wrong, than everything goes wrong. That of course is my own personal opinion

 

[Diecypt]

Wouldn't 90% shock the fish? Would it help if I add another filter? My 36 gallon is not a nano cube? It is a bowfront. Can I add the fish back into the 36 gallon once it establish?

 

[Diecypt]

Alright, I removed the two swordfish. The problem is that the 10 gallon spare has no lid, only filter and heater. Don't know if that is ok. Do I need to add gravel in it though? Also, do I need lighting. No plants in there yet, empty.

 

[Diecypt]

It is wierld because my fish seems fine, so I think it is not 5.0 nitrate. Maybe it's inbetween there somewhere.

 

[Pearly]

Hi just wondering how your tank is doing. Myself been on fish-in cycle but my tank is very small, with lots of live plants. To answer your question about adding gravel (or other substrate) and stuff, I feel that it's always (or most of the time) better to have them as this is clear to the natural environment of the fish. There maybe some exceptions, but as for live plants, I think those are always good to have. They make the water conditions much more favorable for the fish plus I have yet to seethe fish who wouldn't enjoy frolicking between the leaves of the plants or stems of fern/grasses. I personally have 5 small tanks and each one is heavily planted with variety of plants. They make cycling of the tank smoother especially if you do it with some fish, they definitely make things easier on the fish. Some fish love to rest on the larger leaves of the plants at night or take a siesta on one after a good meal. It's really fun to watch. If you have little or no experience with live plants I would start with some hardy ones (like Anubia) or some mosses (I love the texture of Christmas Moss but others are great too) can't go wrong with those especially that you don't have to "plant" those which will make things easier for you since you've got no substrate in your shark tank. You can just throw the rinsed off plants in there till you get more stuff. You'll see how much the sharks will love those. You can get Anubia) at any big box store (they actually have the prettiest ones in my area). My philosophy with plants (live ones) it THE MORE THE MERRIER (of course leaving room for the fish to swim. If you find some Anubias you can just rubber and or tie the plant around roots to a piece of driftwood or rock or ornament. They have pretty broad leaves and rich green coloration. Another good options are ferns (like Java Fern) or Swords (like the Amazon Sword). I know that if you've never done plants throwing all those different plant names will just confuse and overwhelm you. I mentioned those to give you couple you are most likely to find at your petco or whatever box you have near you. People who grow the most beautiful aquatic plants invest a lot of money into appropriate lighting, CO2 injectors, different chemical testing (there is a lot more then our basic API freshwater test kit out there), plus they are VERY KNOWLEDGEABLE on aquatic plants. I've done neither and my "know-how" is very basic but just by trying to do the "what my fish friends will like best" kinda thing, I've got lots of the above mentioned and other plants, and promise you that with just that basic lighting all of mine are thriving and my fish have very pretty cozy homes with nice gardens. I know how having mine makes me feel (cozy home and beautiful garden... Ahhhh! As for my cycling tank I test it every couple of days now and do PWC's when indicated by raising chemicals (don't wait for the once a week or whatever other mark). Best of luck on your tanks and keep us posted

 

[Pearly]

Sorry! Not "shark tank"! I meant your "swordfish tank", the 10 gal, but this same goes for your other tank too as far as what I'd do for the plants and stuff

 

[Budda619]

I would add some more live rock to your sump. So you wont have to redo your aquascape. As long as your nitrites are low, nitrate you can handle with pwc. Btw do you have a refugium? If not i would look in to one to lower your nitrates and phosphates

 

[spiketooth]

I would add some more live rock to your sump. So you wont have to redo your aquascape. As long as your nitrites are low, nitrate you can handle with pwc. Btw do you have a refugium? If not i would look in to one to lower your nitrates and phosphates

What? I think you got this thread mixed up. This is a fresh water tank

 

[Budda619]

Ah your right. Tou che lol

 

[Diecypt]

I got amazon sword and melon sword, there was no java fern in the place I got them which is no petco and PetSmart. I don't trust petco or PetSmart due to their plants having really questionable names. The java fern there have all some kind of description like narrow java fern and many other ferns. When I try to ask for help, they usually just state that any plant that says full aquatic and not semi aquatic will be fine for beginners. Also for the anubias, which kind should I get? There was all kind of them like Nana anubias and the ones with the narrow leaf. I also want to try to input a moss ball or marimo in my tank but I heard that my fish will defiantly eat them and cause possible death for them. I also got some blood worms to give them when I m done cycling. I think giving them blood worms right now will make the water too messy and do more harm than good.

 

[Diecypt]

As for co2, I heard swords don't need them. I also do not need them to grow and thrive as much as I want them to just stay alive.

 

[Diecypt]

As for my nitrite, it's actually more of a violet than purple.

 

[Diecypt]

Alright, just did another water test and the ammonia remains 0, nitrite is 2 or 5, nitrate is now 5.

There has been no fish dead and they all seem happy. I also put some root tabs under my swords but they just turn into powder underwater. Also do seachem or API root tabs provide iron?