Nitrate Levels After Water Change

[FaithAndShrimp]

Hi there!! I did a pretty big water change on my tank (about 50%) the other day, and I went to measure my water levels and it looks like my ammonia no longer is 0 (it's not quite .25 ppm), my nitrites are 0ppm and my Nitrates are pretty much 0ppm (there's maybe 1ppm in it if I'm optimistic).

I do not have any Neocaridina Shrimp or any other species in the tank yet, just some plants (Anubis and water spangles).

Should I be worried about this at all? Will my nitrates come back? I was hoping to get my Neocaridinas in about a week, but not sure if I should wait a little bit in case these water levels are worrisome.

 

[Jojo205]

Has the tank been fully cycled for a while? I’m not sure about the ammonia, but my tank has never had more than 10ppm nitrates since i cycled it- generally it’s between 0 - 5 ppm. As long as the tank is cycled you should be fine. I wouldn’t add shrimp for a while tho if the tank isn’t established, they need an established tank and cycle with plenty of biofilm to graze on during the day.

 

[SotaAquatics]

Test your tap water, its possible your tap water has some ammonia in it.

 

[RayClem]

What does your water company use to disinfect the drinking water? If they use chloramine rather than chlorine, the tap water may contain 1 ppm ammonia in addition to chlorine. As long as you properly dechlorinate the water, your beneficial bacteria will convert the ammonia to nitrite and then to nitrates. If your tank is new and has not yet cycled, then it may not have sufficient bacteria.

 

[Momgoose56]

DO you have ANY Fish or animals in your tank? If it's been empty awhile and it hasn't been getting a significant source of ammonia, your nitrifying bacteria can die off.

 

[Dechi]

Why do you want nitrates ?