0 Nitrate question

[Birdcop]

Hi, I have been running my aquarium now for 3 1/2 months. Its a 29 gal planted tank with quite a few fish and snails in it. I was cleaning my tank bi-weekly for some time (15-30% water changes w/o vacuuming the gravel) but nitrates were never showing up in my testing. Even after putting in new fish and going on vacation, I didn't see any increase. I've gone almost 3 weeks with no cleaning It still shows as 0.

I have 6 Kuhli loaches, 1 small reticulated hillstream loach, 3 amano shrimp, 1 dwarf honey gourami, 2 medium platies, 6 neon rasboras, 5 rasbora hets, 4 white clouds. I have a 30 gal huvel filter with an extra filter piece on the intake. Are my plants eating all of the excess waste and should I just not be worried about it? Or should I be worried about my tank's water perimeters crashing? ( This happened to me early on during my starting cycle)

My water is usually 6.8-7.2 acidity, 300 hardness, and between 40 and 80 in alkalinity, but always 0 in nitrates and nitrite. I have a heater and air pump ofcourse too, it's always at 74 degrees.

I included a picture of my tank, I'm unsure what exactly counts as heavily planted or anything.

Thank you! This is my first time with anything other then a bowl and a goldfish. I love my tank.

 

[Birdcop]

Sorry I don't think the photo posted.

 

[venymae]

First off, how old is your tank? How did you cycle it? If it's a mature tank and properly cycles it could be possible for the plants to be taking up the nitrates especially if you do not fertilize with anything else. Also in a well cycled tank the bio filter should be able to convert nitrites fast enough so they never/rarely show up. I had a fairly heavy stocked, medium planted tank that was notorious for never showing high nitrates (always below 5ppm). I would think that as long as you continue to test the water and do regular water changes and everything looks good I would pat yourself on the back and congratulate your fish on their healthy environment.

 

[dalto]

How are you testing? Nitrate test kits generally require following pretty specific instructions.

 

[Birdcop]

First off, how old is your tank? How did you cycle it? If it's a mature tank and properly cycles it could be possible for the plants to be taking up the nitrates especially if you do not fertilize with anything else. Also in a well cycled tank the bio filter should be able to convert nitrites fast enough so they never/rarely show up. I had a fairly heavy stocked, medium planted tank that was notorious for never showing high nitrates (always below 5ppm). I would think that as long as you continue to test the water and do regular water changes and everything looks good I would pat yourself on the back and congratulate your fish on their healthy environment.

My tank is 3 1/2 months old. I'm pretty sure it cycled at the beginning, I took samples of my water to my local fish store until they told me it was safe to buy a couple of fish. I also fertilize with under gravel tablets, flourish (usually every 1-2 weeks), and an iron supplement (every 2 weeks, although my red leafed plants never seem to look much better).

I will keep it up then, thank you! I'm probably over analyzing, I really want this tank to go well ofcourse. I had a lot of problems with my acidity and algae blooms when I started out.

How are you testing? Nitrate test kits generally require following pretty specific instructions.

I use Tetra easy strips 6-in-1 testing. I thought that might have been the case, but I've been especially careful to follow the directions to the dot and have had no changes in my results. it asks me to dip the side with the testing pads into the water for one second and to be careful not to shake excess water off. in 30 seconds, all but nitrate shows. At 60 seconds, nitrate shows. The color never changes on the nitrite or nitrate pad. I do cut mine in half with a clean pair of scissors to save money, but my fish store does this too and has no problems.

And the testing kit is not expired.

 

[venymae]

My tank is 3 1/2 months old. I'm pretty sure it cycled at the beginning, I took samples of my water to my local fish store until they told me it was safe to buy a couple of fish. I also fertilize with under gravel tablets, flourish (usually every 1-2 weeks), and an iron supplement (every 2 weeks, although my red leafed plants never seem to look much better).

I will keep it up then, thank you! I'm probably over analyzing, I really want this tank to go well ofcourse. I had a lot of problems with my acidity and algae blooms when I started out.



I use Tetra easy strips 6-in-1 testing. I thought that might have been the case, but I've been especially careful to follow the directions to the dot and have had no changes in my results. it asks me to dip the side with the testing pads into the water for one second and to be careful not to shake excess water off. in 30 seconds, all but nitrate shows. At 60 seconds, nitrate shows. The color never changes on the nitrite or nitrate pad. I do cut mine in half with a clean pair of scissors to save money, but my fish store does this too and has no problems.

And the testing kit is not expired.

Alright so I'm going to throw a few possibilities out there, not trying to be mean just help. Devils advocate on some of them ok?

First, I highly doubt your tank was "cycled at the beginning". Unless you went through a cycling process, which involves feeding an ammonia source to your tank to grow the proper bacteria and usually takes a month or longer to establish. (if you did do that this is redundant to you) That being said, your tank being 3.5 months old might have fish-in cycled on it's own and your fish made it through fine, especially if you did regular WC. It also might be true that your tank is only half-cycled. I would continue to watch it carefully and I think learning about the water chemistry cycle in more detail would be a great benefit to the overall health and maintenance of your tank for the long run. Algae blooms and acidity spikes can also be a result of nutrient accumulation in an under-cycled tank which is what you MIGHT have been seeing. Might. Who can know for sure.

Second, LFS unfortunately have a REALLY BAD reputation of giving horrible advice. And many of the employees mean very well and actually believe what they're saying...their just wrong. Do your own research and ask around here. Seriously, don't trust the LFS unless your research supports what they're saying. There are good ones out there, just rare!

Third, many people on here bash (for lack of a better word) test strips at being horribly inaccurate (even when used correctly) especially when compared to the API freshwater kit (it's a liquid kit). Frankly I don't think it's that big of a deal unless you have a very sensitive fish, but that's just me. But be warned, others may knock it.

Last, keep up the good work. Your tank is beautiful, you are monitoring your situation, doing regular water changes, and you are seeking out good advice. I think you will be fine.

Hope this helps!

 

[Birdcop]

Alright so I'm going to throw a few possibilities out there, not trying to be mean just help. Devils advocate on some of them ok?

First, I highly doubt your tank was "cycled at the beginning". Unless you went through a cycling process, which involves feeding an ammonia source to your tank to grow the proper bacteria and usually takes a month or longer to establish. (if you did do that this is redundant to you) That being said, your tank being 3.5 months old might have fish-in cycled on it's own and your fish made it through fine, especially if you did regular WC. It also might be true that your tank is only half-cycled. I would continue to watch it carefully and I think learning about the water chemistry cycle in more detail would be a great benefit to the overall health and maintenance of your tank for the long run. Algae blooms and acidity spikes can also be a result of nutrient accumulation in an under-cycled tank which is what you MIGHT have been seeing. Might. Who can know for sure.

Second, LFS unfortunately have a REALLY BAD reputation of giving horrible advice. And many of the employees mean very well and actually believe what they're saying...their just wrong. Do your own research and ask around here. Seriously, don't trust the LFS unless your research supports what they're saying. There are good ones out there, just rare!

Third, many people on here bash (for lack of a better word) test strips at being horribly inaccurate (even when used correctly) especially when compared to the API freshwater kit (it's a liquid kit). Frankly I don't think it's that big of a deal unless you have a very sensitive fish, but that's just me. But be warned, others may knock it.

Last, keep up the good work. Your tank is beautiful, you are monitoring your situation, doing regular water changes, and you are seeking out good advice. I think you will be fine.

Hope this helps!

Thank you! It does!

I'm actually really glad to hear someone say that about LFS. I love hearing from my fish store, but I always like to know more about something then just being told what to do with my fish blindly. I went through a lot of research online before adding fish to my aquarium, such as this. My LFS is very straightforward about what they think but it's nice to understand different views on things. I counted on them a lot to choose things for me at first but even now I'm still seeing things I would like to do differently next time I start a tank.

I do hope that everything I did to cycle my tank worked. I did a fish-less cycle to begin with and after 3 weeks (after a roller coaster of ph levels and the algae blooms), that's when my tank started showing almost nothing in the nitrite/nitrate levels. I got some white clouds to ride the rest of the way through the cycle and once everything evened out (and I got a wonder shell too) I figured it was over. I hope that sounds right.

And actually the API testing kits are what confused me in the first place with my aquarium ( I was very confused with the different general parameters of water) and I tried using ph up and ph down when I first started. Big mistakes I soon learned from. I immediately threw away all of those after I had several drastic spikes in PH. I didn't like the way they were formatted honestly. I think my reticulated hillstream loach may be the most sensitive fish I have, but he has been fine so far.

Thank you, I really appreciate it! I wish I had known this much when I had goldfish!

 

[BBradbury]

Your Tank

Hello Bird...

I wouldn't fret over the water chemistry. What's more important is to keep the tank water clear of pollutants, like dissolved fish and plant waste. If you remove and replace a healthy percentage of the tank water and do it weekly, your tank water chemistry will be stable and that's what's needed to maintain healthy fish and plants.

What many water keepers don't understand is that water kept in a closed cube like an aquarium will change fairly quickly due to constant filtration and the accumulation of waste products. If you regularly remove and replace the water, you'll maintain a more stable water chemistry. The fish and plants need a constant water chemistry, not a particular chemistry.

B

 

[Birdcop]

Hello Bird...

I wouldn't fret over the water chemistry. What's more important is to keep the tank water clear of pollutants, like dissolved fish and plant waste. If you remove and replace a healthy percentage of the tank water and do it weekly, your tank water chemistry will be stable and that's what's needed to maintain healthy fish and plants.

What many water keepers don't understand is that water kept in a closed cube like an aquarium will change fairly quickly due to constant filtration and the accumulation of waste products. If you regularly remove and replace the water, you'll maintain a more stable water chemistry. The fish and plants need a constant water chemistry, not a particular chemistry.

B

Thank you! That makes sense to me.