Shop says no - nitrates too high

[Paige2906]

Thats read as total zero, so definitely not cycled yet.

Are you adding an ammonia source to cycle this tank?

What do you mean by amonia source?

It's been on and monitored for ten days now. We added easy balance and aqua safe at the start. The filter has been in a tank in a shop for testing as it wasn't working properly.

We've been testing daily. Adding in more plants over a few days.

 

[kwi]

What do you mean by amonia source?

It's been on and monitored for ten days now. We added easy balance and aqua safe at the start. The filter has been in a tank in a shop for testing as it wasn't working properly.

We've been testing daily. Adding in more plants over a few days.

Usually when we do a fishless cycle it's to give the bacteria that eat ammonia and nitrite a change to grow a large enough colony to deal with the waste fish produce, we feed one of the 2 bacteria with ammonia, and they produce nitrite which feeds the other bacteria.
Cycling Your New Fresh Water Tank: Read This First! | Tropical Fish Forums

 

[Phreaker]

What kwi said.
If you haven't established the nitrogen cycle in your tank, your numbers may be fine right now but as soon as you add fish and start feeding them they will become real bad.

 

[kwi]

However as you have live plants you can opt for a silent cycle, and add fish gradually once the plants start to show signs of growth.
The big benefits of a fishless cycle is that it's less stressful for livestock and once it's complete you can fully stock your tank.

 

[Paige2906]

What kwi said.
If you haven't established the nitrogen cycle in your tank, your numbers may be fine right now but as soon as you add fish and start feeding them they will become real bad.

So is my best bet now to go buy some amonia and add that in slowly until my nitrate and nitrites read better.

Assumably the nitrates on the top of the api stick should be higher by that point?

 

[CassCats]

You should be aiming for your nitrates to be between 5-20 after ammonia/nitrites peak and then disappear.

 

[Phreaker]

That is what I would personally do, you can find a calculator online which will tell you how much ammonia you will need to add.
You will be waiting for the ammonia to go down, this will cause nitrites to go up, then the nitrites will go down.
The end product is nitrate. Once both ammonia and nitrite are 0, you are good to go.

 

[kwi]

So is my best bet now to go buy some amonia and add that in slowly until my nitrate and nitrites read better.

Assumably the nitrates on the top of the api stick should be higher by that point?

You could follow the fishless cycle guide, dosing the tank with ammonia when test parameters are met. Rather than adding a bit at a time.
Yes it will create lots of nitrates, which is why a really large water change is required at the end of the process.

 

[Essjay]

The nitrate level you've marked is 40 ppm which is too high for fish. Nitrate should always be under 20 ppm. That's probably what the shop is thinking.

Can you test your tap water please. We need to know if that also has 40 ppm - UK legislation allows up to 50 ppm in drinking water. if your tap water has less nitrate than your tank water, the nitrate int he tank must have come from somewhere which is why I asked if you are adding any plant fertiliser which contains nitrate.


Cycling a tank does not remove nitrate - it makes nitrate.

 

[Paige2906]

You could follow the fishless cycle guide, dosing the tank with ammonia when test parameters are met. Rather than adding a bit at a time.
Yes it will create lots of nitrates, which is why a really large water change is required at the end of the process.

So I'll go with adding in ammonia. Although still a bit lost on how much to add.

Then I'm confused as to why you would do a water change? Surely I've just spent the time trying to get the levels right and then I'm just changing it all?

 

[Phreaker]

So I'll go with adding in ammonia. Although still a bit lost on how much to add.

Then I'm confused as to why you would do a water change? Surely I've just spent the time trying to get the levels right and then I'm just changing it all?

The time you spent is establishing nitrifying bacteria colonies in your filter. The water itself doesn't really matter.

 

[kwi]

So I'll go with adding in ammonia. Although still a bit lost on how much to add.

Then I'm confused as to why you would do a water change? Surely I've just spent the time trying to get the levels right and then I'm just changing it all?

You need to know the concentration of the ammonia solution you are adding. If you can get Dr Tims ammonia and the add 1/2 again of the dose it recomends that will give you 3ppm (Simply put, 3 bits of ammonia in every million bits of water.)

You will need a test kit for ammonia as well.

The bacteria we want in our tank lives on hard surfaces, in the filter substrates on ornaments etc, this deals with ammonia and nitrites.
However nothing deals with the nitrates and other stuff fish produce, so we get rid of this stuff by changing the water.
(The solution to pollution is dilution.)

The first part of the cycling guide deals with the nitrogen cycle, which is what we want to stop fish poisoning themselves in their own pee.

 

[kwi]

This video also explains the nitrogen cycle. It only looks complicated.

 

[Paige2906]

Is this what I should be using?

 

[kwi]

Is this what I should be using?

That stuff will might help speed up a cycle, but contains no ammonia, you might get ammonia in a chemists but not in Pets at Home.