cycle is it finished

[lionheart]

hi
ive had my tank set up for approx 8 weeks using API freshwater liquid test tonight i tested water got reading of amonia 0 ppm nitrite o ppm nitate 0 ppm so re tested got same reading prior to this test it had been static for about 2 weeks with amonia 0 ppm nitrite 1 ppm nitate 20 ppm seen as my reading tonight reads 0 ppm across the board i assume it is fully cycled but the thing that bothers me is 0 ppm on nitrate as i am under the impression this should be idealy around 5 ppm and at a max of 20 ppm all i have done recently is added a piece of bog wood which i boiled and soaked for a few weeks im using 2 filters a internal fluval and a external cannister filter, all i want to know is, if my tank is fully cycled or is there a problem with the nitrate being at 0 ppm.

i.m assuming the nitrate will rise ova time but is it ok at the current level
to begin with i had high ammonia 5 ppm nitrite 5 ppm nitrate 20+ ppm so this is the reason i have concluded my tank is now fully cycled as over the past 8 weeks ive taken numerous water tests with variable readings but this is first time i had results 0 ppm across the board,

all replies are much appreciated thanxs in advance

 

[mgamer20o0]

any plants? what fish are in there? how often are you water changing?

 

[lionheart]

just artificial plastic plants, 5 neon tetra's, was changing water once a week but av not for last 2 weeks

 

[missileman]

Yea thats got me concerned. You should have Nitrate, in fact if it was 20ppm the other day it should still be 20ppm or higher. Nitrate does not just go down on its own. Live plants can consume some but it usually takes regular water changes to keep it under control.

 

[lionheart]

well i am going to do another test now cos like i said only added bog wood thats it and it was soaked in dechlorinated water, 2 filter sponges in fluval unchanged filter pads, 3 baskets in external cannister with 2 filter pads unchanged will post results again in a bit soon as ive re tested NITRATE,it is strange considering my tap water shows 10 ppm NITRATE so i thing a water change will do the job but wot would cause NITRATE TO DIE OFF COS OBVIOUSLY I WOULD NOT LIKE TO GO THREW THIS AGAIN AFTER WATER CHANGE

 

[lionheart]

Just tested again got 0 ppm same result with liquid api so double checked with api strip same result 0 ppm tested tap water that 2 is 0ppm so not even a water change will help should i remove the bog wood that the only thing new been placed in tank really concerned now cos according to my tests i have no beneficial bacteria yet ammonia and nitrite are 0 ppm neons seem happy enough no behaviour changes wot so ever

 

[mgamer20o0]

how big of tank? how much water changed? its odd for sure. when i ever have any questions i just do large water changes. my tanks get 50% or more weekly.

 

[lionheart]

Its a 36inch x 15inch x 12 inch approx 130 litres wen i did do weekly changes it was around 10 per cent change rate as i said did this every week for 6 weeks except last 2 weeks i just neva got round to it i suppose seen as i have 5 neon tetras in tank i should monitor it closely and do daily water tests cos they will be producing amonia so i will see wot reading i get if i see no change or increase in amonia levels or nitrite then i will be baffled cos that is exactly wot should happen with 0 ppm nitrate reading if i have just caught the start of nitrate being 0 ppm no beneficial bacteria present then surely ova next day or 2 i will definatley see increases in amonia n nitrite just do not understand why amonia n nitrite r 0 ppm if there is no beneficial bacteria present with tetra's in tank feed them once a day flake,is there anyway these api test kits can go bad only bought it 8 weeks ago wen i set tank up so wot is the shelf life of these chemicals could i be getting false reading althou i doubled checked with strip test as well i know they are un accurate might just take sample to lfs tommorow just to check

 

[lionheart]

checked water again this morning same results amonia 0 ppm nitrite 0 ppm although nitrate could be 0 ppm i am now convinced it is between 0 ppm and 5 ppm as colour card states yellow 0 ppm pale orange 5 ppm and i think it is in between these 2 colours, cos colour is not exactly matching yellow 0 ppm or pale orange 5ppm althou it looks yellowish it could well be slightly ova the 0 ppm but not as much as 5 ppm, WHY DONT API MAKE THESE KITS IN 1 STEP SEGMENTS INSTEAD OF 5 STEPS,
anyway cos the amonia n nitrite r 0 ppm there has to be NITRATE present to consume the amonia etc althou i would like a higher NITRATE READING, i am now not so concerned because the amonia is 0 ppm still today, and fish are fine,also with the waste that they produce daily i would see a rise in amonia and nitrite if no NITRATE was not present,
i shall just monitor the situation and email API n see if they can upgrade there kits so we can go up in 1 step segments not 5

 

[missileman]

I agree, as long as the amonia and nitrite are staying at zero your fish are not in danger, just keep a close eye on it.

 

[lionheart]

yep thanxs MISSILEMAN

 

[fort384]

Make sure you shake up the Nitrate test reagents well. They will give false 0's if not properly agitated.

 

[skye144]

I just want to say it would be a whole lot clearer if you used periods and punctuation in your posts, not to be rude but it is just easier to communicate and understand ideas and questions if they are written correctly.

 

[lionheart]

Without being rude,

wot part of the post did you not understand, ?

so my grammer is not up to your high standards,

so sorry SKYE144

hardly here or there is it to be honest,

have you not used txt messaging on mobile fones yet then.

of course you have, and no doubt u read them with no difficulty.

so why suggest, it is easy to communicate and understand,
with periods and punctuation,

maybe if you had of replyed to the post,

even just to say your peace of dribble,

instead of nit picking after other members have posted informative replies,

which obviously mean't , they had very little trouble in understanding wot was written,

then maybe just for you, i would of added punctuation.

however, there is one very valid point, you are missing here.

that is,

the HEALTH of my fish, is paramount before anythink else,
so i ask questions on this forum, with or without punctuation,
so that the experienced users of this site.
can help me prevent fish deaths, give me advice,learn me a thing or two,
and not to teach me ENGLISH GRAMMER.

for that, if i so desired i would attend college my friend.

 

[lionheart]

Make sure you shake up the Nitrate test reagents well. They will give false 0's if not properly agitated.

yes i have followed instructions in booklet, i have tested many times before,i always shake reagents well so they mix,i have neva had a reading like this thats why i posted.but thanxs anyway

 

[lionheart]

well i took a water sample to LFS 2 days ago, they got same reading as me 0 ppm on ammonia nitrite & nitrate, he was suprised to know i have 5 neon tetra's in tank,
i got the impression he was gonna say your tank is not cycled yet m8t. but soon as he new i had 5 neon tetra's in tank his attitude changed,

when i asked the guy about my concerns with nitrate being o ppm he said it was not a problem and did not mean i had no beneficial bacteria present.

he said with the ammonia and nitrite being o ppm as well means i have a normal tank, which is cycled, i again said to him i was under impression nitrate should be about 5 ppm and no higher than 40 ppm,
but he said it didnt matter at all wot the nitrate level was as long as it was below 40 ppm,

he insisted it didnt represent benificial bacteria but was just another by-product of nitrite and the fact ammonia is 0 ppm nitrite 0 ppm is the reason i am getting 0 ppm nitrate, well now i started to question his fish keeping knowledge,
as that is not wot i have been lead to belive in any article or forum i have ever read or been on,
anyway i just did my own water test again,and still got same reading 0 ppm on ammonia,nitrite,nitrate,

can any one on this forum tell me wot the **** is going on with my nitrate level ?,is it a good thing to be so low or bad ?,

im using 2 filters,a external canister,which has CARBON & CERAMICS & SPONGES & my internal is using sponges, ceramics are good for benificial bacteria to thrive & multiply, and the sponges in both filters.

so just wondering if CARBON can affect benificial bacteria ?.

 

[bluerose]

Lionheart, your post regarding skye's comment was out of line IMHO. Skye is as welcome to his/her opinion as you are to yours. Regarding text messaging, most people can read 40 characters of inventive spelling, but not a huge block of it. (I refuse to read texts that take more than half a thought to read and text with complete words and often punctuation.) On a full keyboard it is simply sloth not to at least attempt to use capitals, commas and periods. We aren't expecting excellence, just legibility. I skipped over your thread before because it was just too difficult to read (and your attitude appears to leave something to be gained). Please practice netiquette...

I don't know why you would be seeing 0 nitrates other than a faulty test kit in this case (make sure you're doing all the necessary shaking with the reagent bottles). However if you're seeing 0 ammonia and 0 nitrites, your fish aren't in danger, and I'd just keep an eye on your parameters and how your fish are acting.

 

[krap101]

Also, sometimes it takes awhile to change colors. When I first started testing I was seeing 0's, but after around 3-5 mins, its an obvious non-zero. Otherwise I would expect the 0 on the nitrate to be *fishy*. If possible, it might be best if you could find a second kit (non strip) from a friend , LFS, or somewhere else to make sure.

 

[missileman]

Did you tell the expert at the fish store that your nitrate was 20ppm less than a week ago and now it has magically dissapeared?
What are you treating your water with when you do a water change?
Some products, like Amquel Plus for example, will remove some nitrate.
On the plus side neons are pretty clean fish so I wouldn't expect the numbers to be very high with regular maintainance.

 

[lionheart]

missileman,
i am using API TAP WATER CONDITIONER "AQUARIUM DECLORINATOR.
but like i said in my post, i did not do a water change for last 2 weeks so never added any conditioner,and yes i did tell the LFS guy about nitrate readings being 20 ppm prior to this but,he said m8t the lower the better,

bluerose,
i agree we are all intitled to our own opinions,
i just thought a little imput into the thread regarding the post,
and the problems i was mentioning,was more important, than how i wrote the post,and me being corrected on my punctuation was not going to prevent a fish death.
as you say, 0ppm ammonia & 0ppm nitrite means my fish are not in danger,
but really i would like to know why my nitrate went down to 0ppm,
thanks for your imput.

krap 101
i know it takes 5 mins to get a correct reading, i do exactly as the instructions suggest, the same test kit was used in the weeks prior to me getting these reading,and the kit was working fine,
also the LFS got same readings as me so i know the kit is fine.
but thanks for the imput.