Nitrites still at 0, Help!

Hi there,

I am new to the aquarium hobby and this is my first time cycling a tank so I am looking for advice. I've watched a lot of videos and read articles on the subject of cycling but some info is inconsistent.

My setup:
10 Gallon Cube AIO Nano Tank. Sponge Filters and Bio Balls and a filter sock. The heater is set to 78-79 degrees.
* This aquarium is brand new, I have no established media to add to the tank.

Day 1
Unboxed tank and set up filter media. Added sand, driftwood, rocks, and fake plants.
Treated my water with Prime prior to adding to the tank.
Filled tank and added 1 capful of Stability as bottle directed.

Day 2
Test results:

• Ph: 7.6
• Ammonia: 1.0
• Nitrite: 0
• Nitrate: 0 - 5.0

Added 1/2 Capful of Stability as bottle directed. Added small pinch of fish food.

Day 3
Added 1/2 Capful of Stability

Day 4

• Water Test
  • Ph: 7.6
  • Ammonia: 1.0
  • Nitrite: 0
  • Nitrate: 5.0

Day 5
+ 1/2 capful of stability

Day 6
+1/2 capful of stability
+ small pinch of food

Day 7
+ 1/2 capful of stability

Day 8
Water Test:

• Ph: 7.6
• Ammonia: 0.5 (ammonia has started to drop)
• Nitrite: 0
• Nitrate: 5.0

1-gallon water change to top off the tank. Removed water from the tank without disturbing the substrate and didn't clean any algae off the sides. Added 1 mL prime to water before adding to the tank, added 1 capful stability back in.

Today is Day 8 and I just performed the above tasks. I also tested my tap water for nitrate and they are virtually 0.

I am wondering, am I on the right track? Looks like ammonia is going down, Nitrites so far have not presented themselves but I have nitrates present. Should I continue adding stability after today? Or leave it to run and see if nitrites appear.

Thanks so much for your help!

 

I'm guessing your tank is cycled. You are probably keeping the nitrates undetectable with water changes. Though I do admit that its a bit odd to not ever read any nitrates. But if it wasn't cycled you wouldn't be able to process ammonia and nitrite. The only logical explanation is that you are cycled and something is keeping your nitrates low. What kind of filter media are you using? Do you have lava rocks in your tank?

Yeah, it is weird. I tried following a cycling guide online using Dr. Tim's liquid ammonia and I dosed Seachem Stability in the beginning. That feels like ages ago now.

I have an AIO water box cube, it came with sponges and bio balls. I have 2 sponges and a bag of bio balls in the main chamber and a little pre-filter sponge on the output to reduce water flow because it was too strong of a current for my betta.

I do have driftwood in the tank, although I've heard that can lower pH but I don't know if it affects nitrates. It is really strange. When I initially began the fishless cycle I did have between 10-20 nitrates with every water test. The only thing I can point to is my water changes. I was having to do them every 2-3 days to keep the ammonia level down but now the ammonia is either 0 or .25 so I do them less frequently, but still weekly at least.

 

Yeah, it is weird. I tried following a cycling guide online using Dr. Tim's liquid ammonia and I dosed Seachem Stability in the beginning. That feels like ages ago now.

I have an AIO water box cube, it came with sponges and bio balls. I have 2 sponges and a bag of bio balls in the main chamber and a little pre-filter sponge on the output to reduce water flow because it was too strong of a current for my betta.

I do have driftwood in the tank, although I've heard that can lower pH but I don't know if it affects nitrates. It is really strange. When I initially began the fishless cycle I did have between 10-20 nitrates with every water test. The only thing I can point to is my water changes. I was having to do them every 2-3 days to keep the ammonia level down but now the ammonia is either 0 or .25 so I do them less frequently, but still weekly at least.

Bioballs provide sufficient surface area for denitrifying bacteria to grow.. there are bacteria that consume nitrates as well, not just bacteria that consume ammonia and nitrites.. it is possible that you have a colony of bacteria consuming nitrates at a rate constant enough to keep things at 0. That would be the most likely explanation imo. I asked about lava rocks because lava rocks contain those bacteria by default and will slowly colonize to consume nitrates. I guess you just did a really good job cycling your tank lol. Honestly though, if your parameters are in check and your fish is healthy and its been over 1 month I wouldn't worry about it. All is well

 

Bioballs provide sufficient surface area for denitrifying bacteria to grow.. there are bacteria that consume nitrates as well, not just bacteria that consume ammonia and nitrites.. it is possible that you have a colony of bacteria consuming nitrates at a rate constant enough to keep things at 0. That would be the most likely explanation imo. I asked about lava rocks because lava rocks contain those bacteria by default and will slowly colonize to consume nitrates. I guess you just did a really good job cycling your tank lol. Honestly though, if your parameters are in check and your fish is healthy and its been over 1 month I wouldn't worry about it. All is well

Thank you! Yeah, that's kind of where I'm at. I feel like he's healthy. When I test the water the parameters are fine. So I'm going to stop stressing about it.

In regards to Frogbit, I actually did want to order some online to add some variety to my tank and have it on the surface. I'm wondering, how does the Frogbit consuming nitrates affect the tank or the fish? And how would it affect my tank? For some reason, I thought the water needed to have some level of nitrates present in order for the fish to stay healthy.

 

I have a betta fish. He's been in there for a month. We've been going back and forth about the tap water (source water with ammonia) and the purified bottled water. I started a fishless cycle back in August and eventually added a fish after about 4 weeks of no progress because ammonia was relatively low and was dosing prime.

Gotcha Have you pretty much switched over to all tap water now? Personally I would not be stressing over not seeing nitrates. As long as you change out 50% of his water each week it won't matter if you never get the numbers you are expecting. I wouldn't be stressing over an ammonia reading that low either. The time to be concerned is if it starts going up.

One little guy isn't going to be producing a lot of ammonia. The amount of nitrates depends on the amount ammonia. I realize you do have ammonia in your source water and now that you are gradually switching over to using it the bacteria in the tank should be clearing it out. I have to think that is the reason you are seeing .25 instead of the .5 you were seeing.

I recommended using the bottled water until there was enough bacteria in the tank to start clearing out the ammonia. If you don't mind buying water for the life of this tank you may want to continue doing so but given time I do think this tank will grow enough bacteria to take care of the low amount of ammonia being added while using you tap water.

I really don't understand the fact that there are no nitrates but I would not be stressing over that. You little guy doesn't have to have nitrates to remain health. They are normally a sign of a cycled tank but not something to worry about if they are not there. The most important thing is low or no ammonia and no nitrites. I say low or no ammonia because it seems some folks never get a true zero ammonia reading with their test kit.

Are you absolutely sure you are running the nitrate test correctly? Shaking bottle number 2 like your life depended on it to break the crystals loose and shaking the test tube for a full minute.

 

Gotcha Have you pretty much switched over to all tap water now? Personally I would not be stressing over not seeing nitrates. As long as you change out 50% of his water each week it won't matter if you never get the numbers you are expecting. I wouldn't be stressing over an ammonia reading that low either. The time to be concerned is if it starts going up.

One little guy isn't going to be producing a lot of ammonia. The amount of nitrates depends on the amount ammonia. I realize you do have ammonia in your source water and now that you are gradually switching over to using it the bacteria in the tank should be clearing it out. I have to think that is the reason you are seeing .25 instead of the .5 you were seeing.

I recommended using the bottled water until there was enough bacteria in the tank to start clearing out the ammonia. If you don't mind buying water for the life of this tank you may want to continue doing so but given time I do think this tank will grow enough bacteria to take care of the low amount of ammonia being added while using you tap water.

I really don't understand the fact that there are no nitrates but I would not be stressing over that. You little guy doesn't have to have nitrates to remain health. They are normally a sign of a cycled tank but not something to worry about if they are not there. The most important thing is low or no ammonia and no nitrites. I say low or no ammonia because it seems some folks never get a true zero ammonia reading with their test kit.

Are you absolutely sure you are running the nitrate test correctly? Shaking bottle number 2 like your life depended on it to break the crystals loose and shaking the test tube for a full minute.

Okay, thank you for the detailed response as always. And yes, I've become very good at the water tests..... I've used them many many times now.