Hi everyone,
I have a 46 gallon bowfront, with a Fluval 306 canister filter that I recently cycled fishless by adding ammonia (started cycling two weeks ago). I used most of the substrate from my previous 20 gallon tank, along with Tetra Safe Start to get the cycle going faster. I tested the water frequently using an API master kit (not test strips). The tank started at about 4ppm of ammonia, no nitrites and no nitrates as expected. Water temps are between 68-70, pH hovers around 7.9 (using a digital pH meter, still trying to get this to drop a little).
Two days later, almost overnight really, I tested the water again and it showed no ammonia, no nitrates and 10 ppm nitrates. I performed a 20% water change, and added one small black moor, and 3 dojo loaches and a gigantic moss ball from my previous tank (it had been soaking in a bucket of the old aquarium water) a few days later. I also have some plants that I put in the tank before I started the cycling process. I read online that moss balls are able to remove some nitrates from the tank water, but how much are they capable of removing?
The reason I ask is because now my tank reads no ammonia, no nitrites, and no nitrates, and has been consistently been showing this for about 4 days. Occasionally I will see the nitrates between zero and 5ppm (faintly orange, but mostly yellow on the test kit), but it has not recovered to the pre-fish level. As a matter of fact, one morning I tested the water and nitrates were at 10ppm, that evening they read 0ppm (no water change). On my few previous tanks, the nitrates would settle to 10-20 ppm after cycling, but I didn't have any moss balls in those tanks. The fish are doing fine, so I won't do anything unless the ammonia/nitrites spike for some reason. Have I done something to affect the cycling process, or is this moss ball capable of removing the nitrates in my tank? Thanks!
I have a 46 gallon bowfront, with a Fluval 306 canister filter that I recently cycled fishless by adding ammonia (started cycling two weeks ago). I used most of the substrate from my previous 20 gallon tank, along with Tetra Safe Start to get the cycle going faster. I tested the water frequently using an API master kit (not test strips). The tank started at about 4ppm of ammonia, no nitrites and no nitrates as expected. Water temps are between 68-70, pH hovers around 7.9 (using a digital pH meter, still trying to get this to drop a little).
Two days later, almost overnight really, I tested the water again and it showed no ammonia, no nitrates and 10 ppm nitrates. I performed a 20% water change, and added one small black moor, and 3 dojo loaches and a gigantic moss ball from my previous tank (it had been soaking in a bucket of the old aquarium water) a few days later. I also have some plants that I put in the tank before I started the cycling process. I read online that moss balls are able to remove some nitrates from the tank water, but how much are they capable of removing?
The reason I ask is because now my tank reads no ammonia, no nitrites, and no nitrates, and has been consistently been showing this for about 4 days. Occasionally I will see the nitrates between zero and 5ppm (faintly orange, but mostly yellow on the test kit), but it has not recovered to the pre-fish level. As a matter of fact, one morning I tested the water and nitrates were at 10ppm, that evening they read 0ppm (no water change). On my few previous tanks, the nitrates would settle to 10-20 ppm after cycling, but I didn't have any moss balls in those tanks. The fish are doing fine, so I won't do anything unless the ammonia/nitrites spike for some reason. Have I done something to affect the cycling process, or is this moss ball capable of removing the nitrates in my tank? Thanks!
