Phinny12

I did a water change on my 36G Corner today and took a full reading and it was: ammonia 0, Nitrites 0, Nitrates 0.. Is 0 Nitrates a good thing or should I have at least some nitrate present?

Lucy

You should have some nitrate reading. Did you test before the water change by any chance to compare?
What test kit are you using?

Phinny12

I am using the API Master Test Kit. I only tested it after I changed the water but even still it is odd that there is no Nitrate. It looks very slightly cloudy. What could be going on?

Shawnie

are there live plants in the tank? how longs it been running and what did you cycle it with?

Phinny12

Shawnie,
I set this tank up in December. I cycled it with decorations, gravel and old filter pad from my 55 gallon which had been running for 2 years.This tank ran for about 4 weeks before I put in my fish at which time the levels were Ammonia -0 nitrite-0 Nitrate 0.5.The last time I checked my levels was 1 week ago at that time my nitrates read 0.25 which had dropped from 0.5 over the course of a month's time. There are no real plants in this tank only silk and plastic.

Shawnie

hmm you are in a mini cycle then without live plants and no nitrates...what additives do you add with water changes and whats the stock in there now? did you really bang that #2 nitrate bottle on a hard surface to mix up those crystals? you could be getting a false negative reading for nitrates if not...

Phinny12

Shawnie,
When I do water changes I use Tetra( brand) water conditioner/dechlorinator,Stresscoat and vita chem.
My Fish include: 2 Cory Cats, 2 Kuhli Loaches, 6 neon tetra & 4 Glow Danio in 36 Gallons.

When I did the test I put the cap on the tube and shook it up really hard.. Myabe it is possible that it did not all dissolve?

The water did seem to become very slightly cloudy in the past few days ..at first I did'nt really notice it was so slight.

Shawnie

bang that # 2 bottle on a hard surface like I said and retest it...make sure the lot# on the bottle isnt older than 3 years old ...the last 4 digits is what you go by...cloudy is usually a bacteria bloom so maybe you lost your cycle somehow and its starting over...if you still have all 0's after banging that bottle, id test for the next week or so to make sure you dont have a spurt of ammonia out of no where...

Phinny12

Shawnie,
I tested again last night and got the same 0-0-0 ..I will check the dates on the bottle tonight. The Slight cloudieness in the water started to clear last night. My fish seem fine, healthy, shiney,hungy,active, No signs of stress. How will the mini cycle effect them? Is there anything I can add to the water to accelerate through the mini cycle?

aquarist48

Hello. You mentioned that you seeded your new tank with gravel and filter media from your established tank and you didn't add any fish for 4 weeks. Did you feed the tank or add pure ammonia during these 4 weeks? If not, then chances are the good bacteria you seeded with may have starved and your tank started the cycle again once you added fish. hmmmmm? Keep us posted.

Phinny12

aquarist,

During the time I was running tank I used a raw shrimp in a nylon stocking...very gross.During this time my fish were still in my old 55 gallon tank. After my water tested Ammonia-0 Nitrite-0 and nitrate-0.5 I transfered my fish to the new tank. Those readings held the same since November untill just 3-4 weeks ago when the nitrate level started to drop off first to 0.25 and now to 0.0

aquarist48

Ok...thanks for clearing that up for me. I don't know of anything that will speed you on through the cycle other than daily water changes. It shouldn't take any where near as long as the original cycle. Be sure to add some Prime or Amquel + with your changes.

Phinny12

Thanks for the advice aquarist & Shawnie. I will do daily water changes until I see some change in readings. i am worried about my fish though..they are so beautiful & health I would hate for anything to happen to them!

Shawnie

actually, if you retested and its still 0-0-0 , id stop the water changes and still test daily..when you see a rise in ammonia , start the water changes....overcleaning can cause a mini cycle as well.....they are not in any harm with all 0 readings so no panicking needed...you need that ammonia to be able to start processing..then id start the daily water changes with the prime from there

Phinny12

Thank You for your advise Shawnie. It my be that i overcleaned the tank. I thought I was going away for the weekend so I did an extra water change that week.