lordofthesea
Fishaholic
i just did a water test on my newly set up tank (just put fish in today)got a ammonia reading of 0.25 and nitrate reading of 25. are these ok? if not what can i do to rectify these readings?
Nitrate And Ammonia Questions
- Thread starter lordofthesea
- Start date
Duck and Dive
Fish Herder
you dont need to check for nitrates yet more nitrite. How big is the tank, how many fish did you put in and how long has the tank been running?
lordofthesea
Fishaholic
tnak been running age's 20L and nitrite is 0.
rabbut
I don't bite, all that often...
NitrAte is fine, Ammonia is not. 
Ammonia should be 0 at all times, and NitrAte for most fish, wants to be below 400-1000ppm depending on which scientific paper you read. Nitrate is however used as an indicator for other things building up though, so aim for no more than 20ppm above the tap water reading.
Ammonia being present indicates the filter was not cycled before you added the fish. At this point, a 30%ish waterchange would be a good idea just to check it. Also, daily monitoring of Ammonia and NitrIte needs to be done, allong with waterchanges as nessisary. You need to keep both below 0.25ppm during this cycling stage, and this can mean 2 50% waterchanges a day for upto a few months
If possible, I'd look at returning the fish tomorrow and fishless cycling with ammonia. If you cannot do this, you will gain a fair bit of upper body strength over the next few weeks...
All the best
Rabbut
EDIT to add, it isn't clear from your last reply... The tanks been going a long while, but it's new? How long has it been going, dis you have any fish upto this point, and did you cycle it in any way? If so, how?
Ammonia should be 0 at all times, and NitrAte for most fish, wants to be below 400-1000ppm depending on which scientific paper you read. Nitrate is however used as an indicator for other things building up though, so aim for no more than 20ppm above the tap water reading.Ammonia being present indicates the filter was not cycled before you added the fish. At this point, a 30%ish waterchange would be a good idea just to check it. Also, daily monitoring of Ammonia and NitrIte needs to be done, allong with waterchanges as nessisary. You need to keep both below 0.25ppm during this cycling stage, and this can mean 2 50% waterchanges a day for upto a few months
If possible, I'd look at returning the fish tomorrow and fishless cycling with ammonia. If you cannot do this, you will gain a fair bit of upper body strength over the next few weeks...All the best
Rabbut
EDIT to add, it isn't clear from your last reply... The tanks been going a long while, but it's new? How long has it been going, dis you have any fish upto this point, and did you cycle it in any way? If so, how?
Truck
UKAPS
do you mean 40-100?
rabbut
I don't bite, all that often...
Nope, I ment 400 to 1000 ppm is where NitrAte becomes toxic to fish. NitrAte is used as a guide for Disolved Organics build-up's and background polutants, as well as nutrient depletion in a tank though, as it is not viable to test for these other things. 
As a rule, 20ppm above that of the tap should be aimed for, but NitrAte in itself isn't that bad realy...
As a rule, 20ppm above that of the tap should be aimed for, but NitrAte in itself isn't that bad realy...
Truck
UKAPS
Nope, I ment 400 to 1000 ppm is where NitrAte becomes toxic to fish. NitrAte is used as a guide for Disolved Organics build-up's and background polutants, as well as nutrient depletion in a tank though, as it is not viable to test for these other things.
oh sorry
Truck, we always seem to advise 20 ppm above tap but I have read research that suggested that levels well into the thousands was harmless. The nitrates of 20 ppm above tap is a useful standard because nitrate build up is related to the build of things that we cannot measure. It is basically the canary in the coal mine for a freshwater tank.
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