Woo Hoo! First time I see 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrites

[M Riley]

Just now I tested and read, 0 Ammonia 0 Nitrites & 10. Nitrates…. A mile stone for my tank. I know I'm not out of the woods yet, but I do need some further direction. Will my readings fluctuate, will I see Nitrites rise? Where do I take it from hear other than a scheduled general aquarium maintenance routine?

[jlk]

Is this a fishless or fish-in cycle? Did you get spikes of both amm & nitrite & they now have fallen?

[M Riley]

It's is a 'Fish In' cycle. I set my 45 gallon tank up on Dec 17th. I never had spikes in Ammonia, just a small spike on my Nitrites twice. Overall it's been a slow decline for both Ammonia and Nitrites.

[librarygirl]

Looks promising. There's always a chance nitrite will come back up but just keep an eye on things and hopefully it'll stay level. ANd yes if ammonia and nitrite stay at 0 then you can just do regular tank maintenance (recommended is a 50% water change per week). Anytime you add new fish though keep an eye on levels for a week to make sure there aren't any spikes. Right now you have enough bacteria to take care of the fish you have; when you add more the bacteria will need to adjust to the higher load so sometimes there can be a temporary spike in ammonia or nitrite until the bacteria can adjust.