Ammonia & Nitrate Readings, No Nitrite

Hi, I used to keep tropical fish many years ago & decided to get back into them. I remember having to cycle the tanks for weeks before they were ready but I spoke to a couple of fish keepers and was explained to that I could do it differently now. I got an 89gallon tank a 2 weeks ago, filled it, planted plants, added Aquasafe and Safestart & a flask of mature tank water from a friend, using Fluval 406 filter & digital heater. Tested the water 3 days ago and it showed NH3 at 0ppm, NO2 0ppm NO3 just at lower than 5ppm, went to lfs and got them to test water & they said it was almost perfect, spoke for ages about if tank was cycled & what fish I could add & was told it was good and sold 6 small blue rainbows & 2 bristlenosed catfish. Yesterday ammonia was at 0.25ppm NO2 0ppm & NO3 10ppm, I changed 30% of the water today to help bring NO3 down, added API ammo lock & put some more safestart in. Now I'm questioning if I have done the right thing. Does the No2 & NO3 reading mean my water has those bacteria working but needs to catch up with the NH3? Thank you

 

Anytime you add anything to your tank, it’s going to change the parameters...keep checking your water and do water changes until the readings are good...and yes, since you increased your bio-load, it will take a while to catch up. Watch your nitrites

 

Anytime you add anything to your tank, it’s going to change the parameters...keep checking your water and do water changes until the readings are good...and yes, since you increased your bio-load, it will take a while to catch up. Watch your nitrites

Thank you Sydsam, had a minI panic I think for no reason, testing water daily.

 

Since your cycle needs the small amount of ammonia your new fish are going to be adding if it were me I would not be adding ammo-lock. I would get a bottle of SeaChem Prime though. It is first and foremost a water conditioner but it has the added benefit of neutralizing low amounts of ammonia thus making it safe for your fish.

Folks do say one shouldn't use Prime while using Tetra Safe Start though. The original application of TSS should have cycled your tank so it may not be necessary to continue adding it.

I feel the reason you aren't seeing nitrites is because you used TSS to cycle this tank. They will be there but if the tank is in fact cycled they are being processed too quickly for the test available to us to register.

 

Since your cycle needs the small amount of ammonia your new fish are going to be adding if it were me I would not be adding ammo-lock. I would get a bottle of SeaChem Prime though. It is first and foremost a water conditioner but it has the added benefit of neutralizing low amounts of ammonia thus making it safe for your fish.

Folks do say one shouldn't use Prime while using Tetra Safe Start though. The original application of TSS should have cycled your tank so it may not be necessary to continue adding it.

I feel the reason you aren't seeing nitrites is because you used TSS to cycle this tank. They will be there but if the tank is in fact cycled they are being processed too quickly for the test available to us to register.

Thanks Mattgirl, I couldn't find any prime today, ammo lock I understand is supposed to lock in the ammonia so it can't harm the fish but can still get 'used' by the bacteria. I thought that may be the case with the nitrites too but wanted other peoples opinions as I doubted myself

 

That's correct. Ammo lock converts the ammonia into Ammonium which is still used by the bacteria but makes it safer for fish. Really, you don't need to buy these products if you peg your water with water changes to 0.25 ppm maximum of ammonia and nitrites for most all fish species.

 

That's correct. Ammo lock converts the ammonia into Ammonium which is still used by the bacteria but makes it safer for fish. Really, you don't need to buy these products if you peg your water with water changes to 0.25 ppm maximum of ammonia and nitrites for most all fish species.

Thanks w3amz, I haven't kept tropicals for a number of years, was reading another forum & everyone was going crazy about 0.25 saying awful things to others and like I said I doubted myself, came here as you all seem kind & friendly.

 

Thanks Mattgirl, I couldn't find any prime today, ammo lock I understand is supposed to lock in the ammonia so it can't harm the fish but can still get 'used' by the bacteria. I thought that may be the case with the nitrites too but wanted other peoples opinions as I doubted myself

I don't have a good feeling about using ammo-lock because I have read too many times folks registering really high ammonia levels when using it when the ammonia really shouldn't be registering the high numbers. I don't understand it but I spend a lot of time here and have come across it numerous times.

If you continue using it I just wanted to give you a heads up so you won't get really worried if it happens. If it does just do some big water changes to get it back down.

 

BN plecos (like all plecos) always are poop machines and the tank parameters will rise at first but with water changes they should start going down.

 

If you continue using it I just wanted to give you a heads up so you won't get really worried if it happens. If it does just do some big water changes to get it back down.

Thank you, good advice, I will be checking levels daily for a while

BN plecos (like all plecos) always are poop machines and the tank parameters will rise at first but with water changes they should start going down.

Thank you Cichlid4life