Chemical Levels

[nudenurd]

Hi Guys,

I just took the following measurements from my tank.
Are these OK?

Ammonia = 0 mg/L
PH = 7.6
Nitrate = 12 mg/L
Nitrite = 0 mg/L

Which one's the bad one? Nitrate or Nitrite?

TIA!

 

[zoekin8yg]

Hiya the nitrIte is the one that is 'bad' although high levels of nitrAte is also bad, those levels are ok, BUT how long has your tank been cycling? Or is it just started?

 

[Fwapp]

Your levels are good, especially the Nitrates. My tap water here at home is 30ppm!

If you have finished cycling then it seems a good idea to add a couple of fish, but otherwise, it could be just a reading from your tap water. You need to see the Ammonia and Nitrite spikes before you can say it's cycled.

 

[nudenurd]

Thanks for your replies.
My tank's been active for about 5 weeks now. I've been gradually adding fish during that time and now I'm pretty much fully stocked.

I just want to make sure my fish are happy in their tank... I've spent the better part of a grand on the various creatures lurking in there and I don't want to lose any!
I've invested in a nice Eheim 'outboard' (?) filter which has the various bits an pieces in it to make a good biofilter. I'm keeping my water quite warm, about 29 degrees. And my tank gets about 15 minutes of direct sunlight per day. That's more for the plants than anything else.
Yes, I know that provokes algae growth but that's a good thing - I've got one big sailfin with a big apetite

Every now and then I throw in a capfull of Nitrivec, which would probably explain why I have no Nitrite... I've also got a large bottle of Prime, that I use when topping up the tank. Should I pop a little of that in there say once a month?


Also... My water has a very mild 'tea' colouring to it. I blame this on the fat piece of bogwood sitting in my tank. It's not a problem, but is there an easy way to dissipate it?

TIA