Why are my nitrates reading low? This doesn't make sense.

10 gallon, penguin biowheel 100 and corner sponge filter, airstone. Extra filter media stuffed behind cartridge in the HOB. No plants no fish in the tank currently. I dosed 2ppm ammonia 24 hours ago. Here's the test I just did.
Ammonia- 0ppm Nitrite- 0ppm Nitrate-20ppm pH 7.8 Temp- 79 F

Nitrites have been well above 5ppm for weeks, so I was very excited to see .25ppm last night, and 0ppm tonight. But nitrates read 20ppm last night as well, and still do today after a 2ppm dose of ammonia? I'm super excited my cycle is done by why haven't my nitrates risen? I repeated yesterday and today's nitrate test to make sure it wasn't a bad test, got 20ppm all 4 tests.

 

Shake the number 2 bottle extremely vigorously. A lot of people get off readings on their nitrates because of this reason.

 

10 gallon, penguin biowheel 100 and corner sponge filter, airstone. Extra filter media stuffed behind cartridge in the HOB. No plants no fish in the tank currently. I dosed 2ppm ammonia 24 hours ago. Here's the test I just did.
Ammonia- 0ppm Nitrite- 0ppm Nitrate-20ppm pH 7.8 Temp- 79 F

Nitrites have been well above 5ppm for weeks, so I was very excited to see .25ppm last night, and 0ppm tonight. But nitrates read 20ppm last night as well, and still do today after a 2ppm dose of ammonia? I'm super excited my cycle is done by why haven't my nitrates risen? I repeated yesterday and today's nitrate test to make sure it wasn't a bad test, got 20ppm all 4 tests.

2ppm ammonia oxidized to nitrates would only generate 7.8 ppm of nitrates or so. The test isn't that sensitive.

 

2ppm ammonia oxidized to nitrates would only generate 7.8 ppm of nitrates or so. The test isn't that sensitive.

Ohhhhhhhh for some reason I thought the ratio was much larger. Do you know how many ppm nitrites and nitrates rise per 1ppm of ammonia? Thanks for the insight!

 

Ohhhhhhhh for some reason I thought the ratio was much larger. Do you know how many ppm nitrites and nitrates rise per 1ppm of ammonia? Thanks for the insight!

1ppm NH3=
~2.9 ppm NO2
~3.9 ppm NO3

 

10 gallon, penguin biowheel 100 and corner sponge filter, airstone. Extra filter media stuffed behind cartridge in the HOB. No plants no fish in the tank currently. I dosed 2ppm ammonia 24 hours ago. Here's the test I just did.
Ammonia- 0ppm Nitrite- 0ppm Nitrate-20ppm pH 7.8 Temp- 79 F

Nitrites have been well above 5ppm for weeks, so I was very excited to see .25ppm last night, and 0ppm tonight. But nitrates read 20ppm last night as well, and still do today after a 2ppm dose of ammonia? I'm super excited my cycle is done by why haven't my nitrates risen? I repeated yesterday and today's nitrate test to make sure it wasn't a bad test, got 20ppm all 4 tests.

Someone correct me if I’m wrong as I am learning myself. But I would think as long as you ammonia and nitrite is 0 your nitrate reading would depend on your bio load? If your cycling without fish, your bio load shouldn’t be that high.

 

1ppm NH3=
~2.9 ppm NO2
~3.9 ppm NO3

Thank you so much! That's a great piece of information.

 

Someone correct me if I’m wrong as I am learning myself. But I would think as long as you ammonia and nitrite is 0 your nitrate reading would depend on your bio load? If your cycling without fish, your bio load shouldn’t be that high.

Ponchinizo is using pure ammonia as the "bio load" instead of ammonia from rotting fish poop

 

I'm planning on planting the tank before I get fish, should I keep adding 2ppm of ammonia or will that bother the plants? Planning on java moss and anubias, maybe a java fern.

 

Ponchinizo is using pure ammonia as the "bio load" instead of ammonia from rotting fish poop

Oh ok! So he can run higher amm

Ponchinizo is using pure ammonia as the "bio load" instead of ammonia from rotting fish poop

oh ok. So with a higher ammonia dosing his nitrates should be rising? I’m asking because my next tank will be fishless. Although I will have an established tank to transfer filter media. I’m getting ahead of myself. Ugh

 

when you have fish they are constantly producing ammonia just by breathing.

with a fishless cycle you're only adding ammonia every few days.

 

I'm planning on planting the tank before I get fish, should I keep adding 2ppm of ammonia or will that bother the plants? Planning on java moss and anubias, maybe a java fern.

No the ammonia won't hurt the plants but you only need to dose it with 1 ppm to maintain the bacteria once its cycled.

 

I finally got a test kit and tested the water right before my weekly 50% WC. The nitrates are almost 0!? The tank is fully cycled since october and there is a live java fern but i’m pretty sure it’s not enough to suck up ALL the nitrates? Ammonia and nitrites are both 0. Stocking is 2 male guppies and I do over feed a bit so I expected at least 10ppm?? Pic of tank attached. don’t mind the hard water deposits on the front glass lol

 

I finally got a test kit and tested the water right before my weekly 50% WC. The nitrates are almost 0!? The tank is fully cycled since october and there is a live java fern but i’m pretty sure it’s not enough to suck up ALL the nitrates? Ammonia and nitrites are both 0. Stocking is 2 male guppies and I do over feed a bit so I expected at least 10ppm?? Pic of tank attached. don’t mind the hard water deposits on the front glass lol

so pretty. I just started testing and I have a new aquarium and mine are low range also. I have only 1 fish. Maybe it is because you have so few fish, you think? I am not an expert but just making a similar comparison

 

I finally got a test kit and tested the water right before my weekly 50% WC. The nitrates are almost 0!? The tank is fully cycled since october and there is a live java fern but i’m pretty sure it’s not enough to suck up ALL the nitrates? Ammonia and nitrites are both 0. Stocking is 2 male guppies and I do over feed a bit so I expected at least 10ppm?? Pic of tank attached. don’t mind the hard water deposits on the front glass lol

Well weekly 50% water changes helps a lot in keeping it down. It's when people get lazy and skip a week then problems start.....

 

so pretty. I just started testing and I have a new aquarium and mine are low range also. I have only 1 fish. Maybe it is because you have so few fish, you think? I am not an expert but just making a similar comparison

Thank you, i think it’s a little ugly but i tend to be too self critical LOL.
I thought that too but when I first got the fish nitrates were 10-40 ppm... I also had my ammonia at 4ppm during cycling and i’m sure guppy bio load is a lot less than that so maybe you’re right.

 

What size is your tank. If its a 10g+ with 2 guppies id expect low nitrates

 

What size is your tank. If its a 10g+ with 2 guppies id expect low nitrates

5.5 gallons

 

with weekly 50% WC i'd expect those low numbers. 50% is a lot of water, i'd recommend scaling it down to 25-30%

 

I wouldnt be worried about it just test again before the next wc.

with weekly 50% WC i'd expect those low numbers. 50% is a lot of water, i'd recommend scaling it down to 25-30%

50% is fine i do about 80% every week on my tank.

 

Thank you, i think it’s a little ugly but i tend to be too self critical LOL.
I thought that too but when I first got the fish nitrates were 10-40 ppm... I also had my ammonia at 4ppm during cycling and i’m sure guppy bio load is a lot less than that so maybe you’re right.

I am just thinking how much can a guppy pee??? joking aside, maybe your water treatment was highly effective? I will leave this subject to the experts. I think your tank is lovely.

 

thx all! I was worried the cycle crashed or something (even though ammonia and nitrites r both 0 lol... my brain definitely works )

 

Did you get the API liquid test? If so, you really need to shake the 2nd nitrate bottle for a minute or two to mix it up. Sometimes only shaking it a little bit will give you inaccurate readings (I've done it before lol).

Do you have a deep sand bed? Sometimes you can grow bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas if you have a deep sand bed.

 

Did you get the API liquid test? If so, you really need to shake the 2nd nitrate bottle for a minute or two to mix it up. Sometimes only shaking it a little bit will give you inaccurate readings (I've done it before lol).

Do you have a deep sand bed? Sometimes you can grow bacteria that convert nitrate to nitrogen gas if you have a deep sand bed.

It’s the API test, but trust me I shook the bottle for a LONG time lol. even hitting the bottle against the counter.
I don’t have that deep of substrate, it’s a fine gravel that’s maybe 1-2” deep?

 

You're definitely shaking it well enough then. It must be your low stocking, that's awesome!

 

Photo shows several Moss Balls. These are algae balls, and can suck up ammonia directly, so it's probably not much getting converted to nitrites/nitrates, and what little there is the ferns can handle. Add that to the low bioload, and you have a healthy tank.