Water test results

[russrimm]

What does it mean when your nitrites are 0, ammonia is 0, and nitrates are 0? I always thought 0 nitrates was a bad thing because that meant your tank isnt cycled. We have about 14 fish in this 20 gallon tank and they've been in there awhile and this was our reading. I figured nitrates should read low, but is it ok for them to be THAT low? We did our last 25% water change a week or two ago... Any ideas?

 

[Newbneedshelp]

im not sure what the answer is but that hapened to me when i was cycling, and when i added some new fish i went through a mini cycle and then i started show about 5 nitrates and thats where it still is....HTH

 

[russrimm]

Hmm maybe its actually 2.5. It was more blue than green, and blue is 2.5 and green is 0. So I think i'm OK.

 

[An t-iasg]

Do you have any live plants? They will keep the nitrates low. I have 3 live plants in each of my 5 gallon tanks, and my nitrate reading has been 0.

For your tank, as long as your ammonia and nitrites are 0, your nitrate readings should come along soon, if they haven't already!

 

[TankGirl]

Exactly - healthy plants will uptake the nitrate.