Is the water too clean?

[FishEnthusiast]

Hi,

I have been treating my 20G tank for ich for the last couple of weeks. The treatment is working, but I am wondering if my master test kit is. I test the water everyday because I have 2 baby angels, 4 rainbow fish, a dwarf gourami and a 5" common pleco in there being treated. The readings are always zero across the board, nitrItes, nitrAtes and ammonia.

What is going on here? I have had a positive readings for all three before with this same test kit, so I think the kit is ok, but maybe it isn't?

I have been changing 25-50% of their water with gravel vacs every 2-3 days because of the ich treatments. Is that enough to keep the nitrAtes from building up? This is(was) a cycled tank before these fish were added. I don't get it Will I have to cycle the tank again after the fish are finished with their hospital stay and go back into the 55G?

Thanks for your help

 

[laboul]

My nitrates are very low also.

The liquid nitrate test can be tricky because you have to shake the reagents well before adding in addition to shaking hte tube before adding the second reagent... at least in the test kit that I have. Could this be contributing to "no nitrates?"

LIve plants can also soak up nitrates, but that many water changes will probalby significantly reduce the nitrates.

Try testing your tap water to see what the base level is.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I have tested my tap water, my readings are 0 across the board. I do shake after adding the first and the second reagent as per the instructions. I do not have any plants in the tank as it is a hospital tank. I just don't want to have to go out and buy another kit, though I will if it is defective for some reason.

 

[Tokis-Phoenix]

It might be worth trying a new brand of test kit or getting a new just to compare the results, somehow your results just don't seem right/posible.
What brand of med are you using; is it posible that it is interferring with the results in some way or that your current test kit was a factory dud/mistake?

 

[FishEnthusiast]

Like I said, I have had results for Nitrate before with this kit. I am using AP master test kit. I bought it about a month ago. I am now using maracide. One of the reasons for my frequent water changes is I have used different meds. All malachite green based, but some with things such as formalin. I have also used nox-ich and quick cure. The ich was never severe, just a few spots on each. Today is my second day without spots and tomorrow is the last day of maracide treatment. I am going to do a big water change and watch. If I see more spots I will repeat the maracide treatment. There is no carbon in my filter at this time. I may add some day after tomorrow to rid the tank of any remaining medication.

 

[paulthegreat]

I would try to do a bit less gravel vacs on the changes since the benificial bacteria attach to surfaces. As long as you have 0 Ammonia and nitrite it should be fine, try a new test kit. It may have degraded due to age or temperature, exposure to direct sun or the like. Plants do absorb nitrates during the day cycle but release them during dark periods so try to test after the lights have been off for several hours.hth

 

[CathyG]

If the readings for Nitrate from your tap are zero, then the frequent water changes you are carrying out will dilute any Nitrate build up in your tank. Nothing to worry about, and in fact it is to be envied if you do not keep live plants!

Once you have given the final dose, I would carry out a 30-40% water change then filter over carbon for about 48 hours to remove any remnants of the meds. Then I would leave the fish where they are for another week or so to be sure the Ich has cleared. Good luck!

 

[FishEnthusiast]

I do keep live plants, but not in my 20G. My 55G is recently planted, and hopefully in a little while it will be overgrown. I don't have my 20G planted as it is a quarantine tank, and I use various meds in there.

Thanks for the rest of your advice.

 

[annka5]

Is the test measuring a "true" zero nitrate, or is it under (e.g.) 5? It could be that the test fails to measure anything less than the first number on the kit.
So, if the colour chart goes 5, 10, 15 etc, it can be that the test is incapable of measuring less than 5ppm, therefore looks like its giving you a zero reading where what it means is that your nitrates are less than 5.
IMO, nitrates of zero in any tank water and tap water is incredibly unlikely.

 

[nc_nutcase]

I'd definitely say uncommon... but not unheard of...

I have a lightly stocked 29 Gal that is on the same maintenance program as my larger/overstocked tanks and it rarely gets any nitrAte (or nitrIte/Amm) reading. My tap water is also consistently zeros across the board.

 

[gadazobe]

From what I understand the 20 g tank with no nitrate is a quarantine tank. Has it only recently been set up? You also have no ammonia, but what about nitrite? I think that this tank may not have cycled and that's why there's no nitrate. Nitrate is the last stage of a cycle and unless you have plants and/or do a 100% water change, there must be a show of nitrate.

 

[sinistral]

From what I understand the 20 g tank with no nitrate is a quarantine tank. Has it only recently been set up? You also have no ammonia, but what about nitrite? I think that this tank may not have cycled and that's why there's no nitrate.

I have been changing 25-50% of their water with gravel vacs every 2-3 days because of the ich treatments. Is that enough to keep the nitrAtes from building up? This is(was) a cycled tank before these fish were added.

How did you keep the bacteria alive between the cycling of the tank and moving the fish you mentioned into the quarantine tank? And, how long an interval was it before you added the fish?

I inquire because another thought is that after cycling the tank you had a big bacterial dieoff. In this case, your readings would indicate that your tank is not cycled now as gadazobe mentioned (even if it had been at one point). At this point, the 20-50% water changes and gravel vacs would apparently be sufficient to keep your nitrogen readings at zero.

 

[FishEnthusiast]

The tank was fully cycled for two or three years before I got it. I had it for 6 months stocked with goldfish(3). They got too big and went to my grandmas pond. The tank was empty for about 2 weeks before the other fish moved in. I have been doing very frequent water changes. I am concluding it must be this. The tank will be cleaned and emptied tomorrow, as my fish have shown no further signs of ich so they will FINALLY be going into the 55G where they belong . They only ever had one or two spots each, some of the fish in there never even showed any signs. I am then going to run a fishless cycle so I can add fish in the future.

Thanks for your help.