Nitrate Problem

[skye twinkle]

Hi im a newbe to tropical fish keeping. I set up my tank two weeks ago and my nitrate reading is 0ppm. Does this mean its too high or to low? Im so confused .
Please can someone explain what is the best reading and how to obtain it. Ive done a partial water change 4 days ago.

 

[idlefingers]

With nitrate, the lower the better but in your average freshwater setup, anything below 100-150ppm is safe. 0 seems unlikely unless you're using RO water and have no fish in the tank. Were you meaning nitrate or nitrite?

 

[skye twinkle]

With nitrate, the lower the better but in your average freshwater setup, anything below 100-150ppm is safe. 0 seems unlikely unless you're using RO water and have no fish in the tank. Were you meaning nitrate or nitrite?

Its defo the nitrate test and reads at 0ppm. I dont have any fish in the tank because i was told at the pet shop i had to have all the water tests correct before adding them to the tank

 

[idlefingers]

Okay, that's fine.. You must be a lucky one with 0ppm nitrate in your tapwater! As you may or may not know, ammonia is turned into nitrite by the filter and then this is turned into nitrate, which is why it would be unusual to have a stocked tank with 0 nitrate.

That's good of the fish shop to tell you to wait until the water's right before adding fish. You need to cycle the filter so that it can handle ammonia and nitrite. The best way to do this is by completing a fishless cycle by manually adding ammonia in [relatively] large quantities to the tank on a daily basis, until, through testing, you see the ammonia and nitrite levels stabalise at 0. There's some very useful articles about fishless cycling in the newbe section.. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

 

[skye twinkle]

Okay, that's fine.. You must be a lucky one with 0ppm nitrate in your tapwater! As you may or may not know, ammonia is turned into nitrite by the filter and then this is turned into nitrate, which is why it would be unusual to have a stocked tank with 0 nitrate.

That's good of the fish shop to tell you to wait until the water's right before adding fish. You need to cycle the filter so that it can handle ammonia and nitrite. The best way to do this is by completing a fishless cycle by manually adding ammonia in [relatively] large quantities to the tank on a daily basis, until, through testing, you see the ammonia and nitrite levels stabalise at 0. There's some very useful articles about fishless cycling in the newbe section.. http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=113861

Thanks for that. Its really strange but the girl in the pet shop said that the nitrate had to be at 40 on the reading card. Is that an acceptable level?? Thats why i thought my reading was way off what it should be.
As for the amonia and nitrite the readings are exactly what they are supposed to read according to the test kit. Is it quite normal for everything to be ok so quickly after setting up the tank?

 

[Maximus]

You have no ammonia or nitrite readings because you have nothing producing ammonia (fish, or pure ammonia).

Follow the link that Idlefingers has given you to see how to cycle your tank

 

[skye twinkle]

You have no ammonia or nitrite readings because you have nothing producing ammonia (fish, or pure ammonia).

Follow the link that Idlefingers has given you to see how to cycle your tank

Thanks. Im going to sound really stupid now but does it mean that i can put some first fish in the tank now that the reading are all correct??
Also i didnt add amonia to the water like it said on the link that idlefingers suggested why was my readings ok if i didnt do this

 

[idlefingers]

Your reading are okay because you haven't started the cycle yet. Once you start adding ammonia, you'll start seing them shift. If you were to put fish in now, the filter wouldn't be able to process the ammonia and the water would get worse and worse. It's the levels being stable AFTER the cycle which you're aiming for.. what the levels are at now doesn't really matter.

 

[skye twinkle]

Your reading are okay because you haven't started the cycle yet. Once you start adding ammonia, you'll start seing them shift. If you were to put fish in now, the filter wouldn't be able to process the ammonia and the water would get worse and worse. It's the levels being stable AFTER the cycle which you're aiming for.. what the levels are at now doesn't really matter.

ok thanks ill go and get some this afternoon. They didnt tell me this in the pet shop!!