Is something wrong with my tank cycle?

It took about 6-7 weeks for the 29 gallon tank to cycle. At least, it looked like it... When we thought it was ready at the beginning of October, we put in 7 pygmy corys and they seem to be doing just fine so we haven't done much water testing. The testing we did showed very little nitrates and no nitrites (and no ammonia). The plants have been growing and the fish are healthy, active, and eating. Last week we added 8 danios to the tank, and everybody still looks good. But we did a water test on another tank that we've been waiting on (the nitrites have been dropping for two weeks) it showed zero across the board. We kinda wondered if it would be different since there are no live plants in it, so we tested the 29 again to compare and there's... nothing. Zero nitrates, zero nitrites, zero ammonia. It's kind of weird?? And concerning?? There are supposed to be ntirates in a planted tank, right??? Is this gonna kill everything? Or is it normal?

 

There should be traces of nitrates in any tank....

What test kit do you use?

 

There should be traces of nitrates in any tank....

What test kit do you use?

I'm using that API liquid test kit.

 

Do you vigorously shake the test tube & dropper bottle for 1 minute? I mean shaking it so hard your hand will fall off.

 

Do you vigorously shake the test tube & dropper bottle for 1 minute? I mean shaking it so hard your hand will fall off.

Uhhh no!! I've been shaking it for about 15-20 seconds hard enough that there are bubbles for a minute after. Aaaah have I been doing the test wrong!!! I swear I read the instructions....

 

Wrong? Not really, just not the greatest mix on API's part. You really have to shake the heck out of those bottles to get good readings. Hitting the bottom of the bottle on a counter or something while you shake it tends to help.

 

Wrong? Not really, just not the greatest mix on API's part. You really have to shake the heck out of those bottles to get good readings. Hitting the bottom of the bottle on a counter or something while you shake it tends to help.

Okay, I'll give it another go when I get home. Thank you!

 

Shake bottle 2 for 30 seconds (hard) before vial. After vial 60 seconds. Then you should be good.

 

I’ve head weird readings before, maybe an extra drop, wrong liquid who know mistakes happen. However I know how my readings SHOULD look. If there is ever a discrepancy I test again. If that test shows what I expect I test again to verify. Don’t be scared to test multiple times if something seems off. Again I’ve had ph tests tell me 6.0 then when I test it again it’s 7.2 as I expect, couldn’t tell ya what I did to make it read 6 the first time but it did.