Nitrogen cycle - not sure where to go from here with tap nitrates

I have a 10-gallon planted tank that has been cycling nicely, but I'm not sure how to finish the cycle or where to go from here (I have never cycled a tank before).

By day 3, ammonia spiked to 4.
By day 9, ammonia started coming down.
By day 9, nitrate spiked to 20.
By day 10, nitrate started giving a reading of 5 every time, despite shaking the bottle with great enthusiasm.
By day 13, nitrite spiked to the unreadable/off-the-chart range.
By day 13, ammonia was 0, so I started daily ammonia dosing to 4, with it consistently dropping to 0 within 24 hours.
By day 17, I started doing daily WC to get nitrite/nitrate readings back to readable, which worked, with nitrite consistently dropping.
By day 20, nitrite is 0, both before and after WC; ammonia is still going from a dose of 4 to 0 within 24 hours.

Today is day 21. Ammonia and nitrite readings are still super (0), but nitrate is too high. I have nitrates in my tap water.

I'm including pictures:
1. Nitrate reading for tap water.
2. Nitrate reading for tank before WC.
3. Nitrate reading for tank after WC.

Obviously the water changes help, but I'm not sure on a few things:
1. Is my tank cycled despite high nitrates or is my tank not done cycling yet?
2. Should I switch my ceramic rings in the filter to Matrix to help with nitrates?
3. What is the highest my nitrates can be to still be safe for fish?
4. What do I do next? Is it more just waiting and daily testing/WCs?
5. Will I always have to do daily WCs instead of weekly because of my high nitrates?
6. Any other thoughts or advice?

 

Wow, Very good job on testing and marking your tank water. Most hobbyists don't think twice about testing their water and its the biggest mistake.

Ammonia and Nitrite are toxic to fish in concentrations above .5ppm. Nitrate on the other hand is more of a waste chemical and CAN be a stressor to fish, but isn't necessarily toxic to them unless in extreme amounts for prolonged periods.

I hate to admit, but I've had a 75G S/A cichlid tank that maintained nitrates well above the 160ppm range. (I know this because I did a 50% water change and the water STILL tested at 160ppm nitrate). I had an oscar in that tank that did not and still does not suffer from HITH. So with that experience I can say nitrate isn't a huge issue unless you're looking at keeping really finacky, delicate fish (like discus and rams).

To lower nitrate, I would either recommend water changes or (if you don't want to disturb the cycle too much) adding some nitrate removing filter media. Tap water can be notorious for having high phosphate and nitrate levels, which usually, at most, leads to algae outbreaks. As long as the ammonia and nitrite are reading below .5ppm, the fish should be safe.

 

Not sure if it would be an inconvenience, but you could get reverse osmosis water . Small enough tank to have to buy it for.

 

Agreed with above, that would allow for more control with exactly what you're putting into the aquarium (and is always recommended for reef tanks). Take note that RO water is straight H2O, so its very acidic, and should be remineralized before being added to the aquarium (or else it could cause potential PH drops.) There are pre-made products that re-mineralized RO water for freshwater aquariums.

 

It looks like your tank is cycled if your ammonia is dropping to 0 and your nitrites are staying at 0ppm.
It looks like your tap nitrates are at 5 ppm is that correct? And it looks like your nitrates were at ~20 ppm after the water change, is that right?
So because your tap nitrates are 5, that is the lowest you'll ever be able to get your nitrates.
If you don't overstock your tank or overfeed your fish, you keep your filter media free of gunk that clogs it, and you vacuum your substrate every other water change, and you do consistent, 50-75% water changes, there's no reason you should have to do more than 1 water change a week. Adding live plants to the aquarium can help a little to reduce nitrate accumulation (plants use it and ammonia for food).
You'll want to keep nitrate levels as low as possible- and always less than 40 ppm. Some fish, and shrimp are more sensitive to nitrates than others and you'll need to research the type of fish you want to get to see if you'll be able to keep -the water at the levels necessary for a particular species. As others have suggested, using RO water is an option, or mixing RO water and tap water, but you've got to have the set up and resources to do that. Using a nitrate remover should be a very last resort because most nitrate removers also remove ammonia and nitrites that your bacteria (and plants if you get them) need.

Agreed with above, that would allow for more control with exactly what you're putting into the aquarium (and is always recommended for reef tanks). Take note that RO water is straight H2O, so its very acidic, and should be remineralized before being added to the aquarium (or else it could cause potential PH drops.) There are pre-made products that re-mineralized RO water for freshwater aquariums.

RO water is typically neutral (pH around 7.0), not acidic but pH can drop if carbonate buffers like crushed coral or aragonite aren't present in the tank. And it will only lower your pH significantly if you're pH is significantly higher than 7 to start with. The reason you need to add minerals to RO water is because through the filtering process, as FishGirl38 said, it is stripped of minerals and some other trace elements fish need to survive, like calcium, magnesium, potassium etc. and is just pure water (the same as distilled water)
I think you'll be fine tho, just doing big weekly water changes and keeping up with tank and filter maintenance.

 

Wow, Very good job on testing and marking your tank water. Most hobbyists don't think twice about testing their water and its the biggest mistake.

Ammonia and Nitrite are toxic to fish in concentrations above .5ppm. Nitrate on the other hand is more of a waste chemical and CAN be a stressor to fish, but isn't necessarily toxic to them unless in extreme amounts for prolonged periods.

I hate to admit, but I've had a 75G S/A cichlid tank that maintained nitrates well above the 160ppm range. (I know this because I did a 50% water change and the water STILL tested at 160ppm nitrate). I had an oscar in that tank that did not and still does not suffer from HITH. So with that experience I can say nitrate isn't a huge issue unless you're looking at keeping really finacky, delicate fish (like discus and rams).

To lower nitrate, I would either recommend water changes or (if you don't want to disturb the cycle too much) adding some nitrate removing filter media. Tap water can be notorious for having high phosphate and nitrate levels, which usually, at most, leads to algae outbreaks. As long as the ammonia and nitrite are reading below .5ppm, the fish should be safe.

Water changes only help to an extent because of the nitrates in our tap water. The algae showed up within the first week of cycling and hasn't left. I’m not sure if it’s better to leave it or remove it.

Not sure if it would be an inconvenience, but you could get reverse osmosis water . Small enough tank to have to buy it for.

Is that something that can be bought in pretty much any grocery store? I know there are RO filtration systems that can be bought, which would not be an option for me. Is it the same as distilled water? I could probably just Google this...

Agreed with above, that would allow for more control with exactly what you're putting into the aquarium (and is always recommended for reef tanks). Take note that RO water is straight H2O, so its very acidic, and should be remineralized before being added to the aquarium (or else it could cause potential PH drops.) There are pre-made products that re-mineralized RO water for freshwater aquariums.

It looks like Seachem has a product that is reasonably priced. I'll have to give this more thought and research it to see what effects there would be on GH/KH/pH if I were to mix RO water/Seachem Equilibrium with my moderately hard tap water. (I don't think hubby would go for this option as a means to replace all the water of a regular WC, especially since I have also have a 20-gallon cycling at the moment.)

 

It looks like your tank is cycled if your ammonia is dropping to 0 and your nitrites are staying at 0ppm.
It looks like your tap nitrates are at 5 ppm is that correct? And it looks like your nitrates were at ~20 ppm after the water change, is that right?
So because your tap nitrates are 5, that is the lowest you'll ever be able to get your nitrates.
If you don't overstock your tank or overfeed your fish, you keep your filter media free of gunk that clogs it, and you vacuum your substrate every other water change, and you do consistent, 50-75% water changes, there's no reason you should have to do more than 1 water change a week. Adding live plants to the aquarium can help a little to reduce nitrate accumulation (plants use it and ammonia for food).
You'll want to keep nitrate levels as low as possible- and always less than 40 ppm. Some fish, and shrimp are more sensitive to nitrates than others and you'll need to research the type of fish you want to get to see if you'll be able to keep -the water at the levels necessary for a particular species. As others have suggested, using RO water is an option, or mixing RO water and tap water, but you've got to have the set up and resources to do that. Using a nitrate remover should be a very last resort because most nitrate removers also remove ammonia and nitrites that your bacteria (and plants if you get them) need.

Cycled? Yeah! It feels like I've waited f-o-r-e-v-e-r!
The city's water report indicates nitrates run a bit over 10. They measure as "nitrate [measured as nitrogen] ppm" of 2.1 (low) and 2.31 (high). From what I understand, I then multiply this by 4.4 to get a nitrate reading of 9.24 to 10.16 ppm. I wish those API test kits (which are still great) were easier to read--too bad it didn't give digital/number results instead of trying to decide what color it looks closest to.
I have live plants in the aquarium but am wondering how easy it will be to vacuum the substrate with plants all over the place, haha. Probably just takes patience and practice.

 

As you mentioned, the water company tests nitrates differently, and if I'm not mistaken the way they test gives a higher number than the API test kit. But I do not remember the multiple.

 

Cycled? Yeah! It feels like I've waited f-o-r-e-v-e-r!
The city's water report indicates nitrates run a bit over 10. They measure as "nitrate [measured as nitrogen] ppm" of 2.1 (low) and 2.31 (high). From what I understand, I then multiply this by 4.4 to get a nitrate reading of 9.24 to 10.16 ppm. I wish those API test kits (which are still great) were easier to read--too bad it didn't give digital/number results instead of trying to decide what color it looks closest to.
I have live plants in the aquarium but am wondering how easy it will be to vacuum the substrate with plants all over the place, haha. Probably just takes patience and practice.

Another plant that you don't stick in the substrate is Pothos. Many people say it uses lots of nitrates. You just hang it in the aquarium to root and let the leaves/stems remain out of the tank.

 

Sorry to disagree with Momgoose56 but RO water typically has a PH of 5-6. She is right in that pure water is PH7 but pure water also readily dissolves a lot of CO2 - hence the acidity. You don't necessarily have to use 100% RO though - use it to dilute tap water a balance of PH and nitrate. Where's the nitrate coming from is a good question - are you using ferts? Personally, if your ammonia and nitrite are consistently zero I think you should be ok. We start the week at about 25 for nitrates (our tap measures 10-20) which shoots up to about 100 just before our water change. We freaked out when this first happened and did daily changes and considered an RO filter - it took a couple of days to realise it was the ferts (doh!) and quite normal. Hence we do the recommended 50% water change every week for a tank with ferts and carried on using 100% tap water. Get some Tetra test strips (not API) and get used to the readings before and after a water change. OK they are not as accurate as liquid tests (your right though the API nitrate test is !) but once used to them you can easily see if you water parameters suddenly shift. They are better for judging nitrate and make it easy to spot if you have any nitrites (if so you can then use the liquid test to get an accurate reading). Only thing they don't test for is ammonia but as that leads to nitrites anyway...

 

Another plant that you don't stick in the substrate is Pothos. Many people say it uses lots of nitrates. You just hang it in the aquarium to root and let the leaves/stems remain out of the tank.

Just picked up a pothos today. I was hoping to add fish by now, but I think I got a bit carried away with cleaning and upset my bb a little bit (ammonia is 0 but nitrite is 0.25 this morning; I dosed ammonia yesterday evening, but previously I would have gotten a 0 nitrite reading this many hours after dosing). I'm going to test for a few more days to make sure the tank is stable. In the meantime, I'll put some pothos in and see if it makes a difference with the nitrates.