Water Questions

[n5xmt]

This is very newbie-ish, but I am trying to figure out what "normal" values for Ammonia, nitrites and nitrates should be in an established tank (freshwater 55Gal) that is not overstocked and is planted. (2 grasses, a brazillian sword and a moneywort).
Here are graphs of my planted 55G and my non-planted 20Gal.

[BrianNY]

In an established tank (one that has reached equilibrium with no more fish added), Ammonia and nitrites should be zero. Nitrates should be between 10 - 20 ppm. Tanks that contain plants often have much lower nitrate readings becuase they are consumed by the plants.

HTH

[n5xmt]

cool...
Looks like I am well on my way.
55G was started on 1/17 with Bio-Spira, 20G was overstocked and had been up for 6 months... got the fish into the 55 on 1/19 (All but 5... the meat eaters... 2 Senegal Bichir's, 1 clown knife and 2 sailfin Pleco's for cleanup)

[QTOFFER]

Yup, exactly what BrianNY said.

I love your graphs, BTW. I did the same thing when I first cycled my 58 gal. I kept detailed records every day for two months and eventually plotted them on Excel. I thought it was simply because I'm a science geek - glad to see I'm not alone!