55 Gallon Tank Started Cycling Today :)

[NannaLou]

Ammonia has reached 0! I tested today a lot earlier and it was 0 but my internet was being a little funky

Brilliant news on the Ammonia . Are the Nitrites at 0..? I can’t seem to get my Nitrites to 0 at the moment they’re sitting at 0.25 ppm

 

[redtailshark34]

Brilliant news on the Ammonia . Are the Nitrites at 0..? I can’t seem to get my Nitrites to 0 at the moment they’re sitting at 0.25 ppm

Yes! Those are 0 as well Nitrates are sitting at about 10ppm (although I think that’s normal in a planted tank, correct me if Im wrong please

 

[NannaLou]

I’m not sure I know enough to be correcting people just yet, but I do know that both Ammonia and Nitrite need to be 0. I think that Nitrates need to be less than 20 ppm...but I’m not 100% sure where that number has come from or why I’ve remembered it!

 

[redtailshark34]

I’m not sure I know enough to be correcting people just yet, but I do know that both Ammonia and Nitrite need to be 0. I think that Nitrates need to be less than 20 ppm...but I’m not 100% sure where that number has come from or why I’ve remembered it!

Okay thank you! I wish you best of luck with your tank

 

[redtailshark34]

I also did a 35-40 percent water change after making sure everything was all good. Waiting a couple of days to put anything in there

 

[Essjay]

I’m not sure I know enough to be correcting people just yet, but I do know that both Ammonia and Nitrite need to be 0. I think that Nitrates need to be less than 20 ppm...but I’m not 100% sure where that number has come from or why I’ve remembered it!

You do know enough to correct people

When there are fish in the tank, ammonia and nitrite should remain at zero all the time. Nitrate should ideally be kept below 20 ppm but this can be tricky where tap water had more than 20 ppm. It used to be thought that nitrate only harmed fish in the 100s, then as more information became available, that was dropped to 40 ppm (which you will still read in some test kit instructions) and more recently is has been dropped to 20 ppm. But the lower the better.

At the end of cycling, ammonia and nitrite should be zero 24 hours after adding ammonia. Nitrate will be high, which is why we have to do a big water change before getting fish.