Ok.... Now What?

[Nikki77D]

Hello everyone! so my ten gallon tank has been cycled now for almost two months. my reading are
ammonia= 0
nitrite= 0
nitrate= 0
 
shouldn't the nitrate be higher?
if so how should i raise it?
 
also now that the bacteria is in the filter, how often and how should i clean the filter without removing all the bacteria?   
 
thanks for any responses! 

 

[Mikey1]

how often and how should i clean the filter without removing all the bacteria?   

 
depends on the tank and filter really, but generally every 2-4 weeks is a good guideline to follow,
 
if you clean your filter media properly (in used/old tank water) you should not kill any bacteria

 

[pirategrl]

what are you testing your water with?  With the API liquid test I have found that you need to shake the bottles up a bit and the reading is more accurate.  If your tank it planted and not fully stocked then the nitrate can stay 0 or close to it.  My nitrate is pretty much always 0, I have a planted tank and am only about 2/3s stocked.

 

[Nikki77D]

I dont have any live plants, and its a ten gallon with 3 mollys and a platty. And yes it was with a liquid tester. Is it okay to be zero? And thanks for the advise on the filter!

 

[cowboy507]

It's okay to be at zero. But usually there is something there. I would do weekly checks to make sure the ammonia stays at zero though

 

[Nikki77D]

Okay thanks for the help

 

[the_lock_man]

I dont have any live plants, and its a ten gallon with 3 mollys and a platty. And yes it was with a liquid tester. Is it okay to be zero? And thanks for the advise on the filter!

 
In terms of fish-health, then 0ppm nitrate is fine, it doesn't in itself cause any harm. BUT, one would expect to see a nitrate reading of 20-60ppm in a cycled aquarium, unless you have loads of plants (which you don't), or you are doing large water changes every day (which is just daft).
 
I would suspect that you aren't shaking the API bottle no.2 hard enough - you gotta really slam it some.

 

[Joshwainwright]

Yeah, the test is probably wrong. Give the bottles a good old shake before you do it

 

[Nikki77D]

Yah my fish seem perfectly fine and everything else is reading good. And I'm doing weekly 50 percent water changes. So okay I'll slam it good this time.... lol

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The directions say to shake it vigorously for a full 30 seconds (I'd do 60 seconds, with a good slam on the table every 15 seconds or so).  Then shake the tube after adding the drops for a full 60 seconds.