Tank Readings

[sallyann]

I recently upgraded to a bigger tank for my goldfish, with the current filter, and have been testing my water for nearly a week now, I added new gravel too, the water readings are as follows, it seems fine to me, but the nitrate is 0, is this ok?

10th May, ph 8.5, nitrite, nitrate and ammonia all 0.
11th May ph 8.2, again nitrite, nitrate and amm all 0
12th may, did'nt test(busy day)
13th May ph 7.4, amm, nitrate, nitrite all 0
14th may, ph 7.4, amm, nitrite and nitrate all 0.

The ph has gone down, not added anything to the tank, the goldfish is very happy, and water crystal clear, I was going to a 25% water change at the week-end, just as a routine thing, should I vac the gravel too, the tank is only a week old, and what about the filter, it is obviously coping with the new tank, but why no Nitrate?

 

[LosC519]

Sounds like it hasn't cycled. You may go through a mini cycle if you still have some established bacteria. How long was your filter off? Bacteria will only live for a couple hours without a food source.

 

[sallyann]

The filter was never off, just switched it straight over, it was out of the water for a second or two, the previous tank had been set up for about a month, and the readings were good, before I switched to a bigger tank, what should the nitrate be?

 

[sallyann]

just checked my readings before I switched tanks and my Nitrate was 5.0, I did have a slight Ammonia reading when i switched tanks it went up to 0.25, but within 2 hours it was back to 0.

 

[LosC519]

Well there goes your mini cycle.

 

[2excitedkids]

Do you have any plants...they use some nitrate, also what is your tap water nitrate readings...this can have a great influence on your tank nitrate.

 

[sallyann]

ok, is it ok to have Nitrate at 0? and what should it be, i thought the ones to watch were Ammonia and nitrite, and these should always be at 0

 

[Miss Wiggle]

ok, is it ok to have Nitrate at 0? and what should it be, i thought the ones to watch were Ammonia and nitrite, and these should always be at 0

it's fine to have nitrate at 0, you should keep it as low as possible however most tanks do have some nitrate.

the filter is mature so don't worry over cycle. The little blip was just gunk stirred up when you moved the filter, the filter had processed in within a couple of hrs so not even a mini cycle.

you live fairly close to me, and we have tap water with 0 nitrate, so as you've some plants and only the 1 fish that's why you're nitrate is currently at 0. it'll probably rise up a bit over hte life of the tank but don't worry over it. it's only at 100ppm+ that you need to be concerned.

readings all look good sallyanne

 

[LosC519]

In a cycled tank you should get nitrate readings unless you have not cycled, just done a massive water change or you have a densely planted tank. Amm and Nitrite are always at zero unless you haven't cycled, are overstocked, or have not done sufficient water changes.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

In a cycled tank you should get nitrate readings unless you have not cycled, just done a massive water change or you have a densely planted tank. Amm and Nitrite are always at zero unless you haven't cycled, are overstocked, or have not done sufficient water changes.

i'm sorry but that's not true, i've run tanks with 0 nitrate before.

it's unlikley but it is possible.

the other thing to remember is nitrate test kist are notoriously dodgy, it's probably just a dodgy reading.

trust me, been through this whole history with sallyanne, the filter is cycled!!

 

[LosC519]

hmm everything at 0. For how long?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

hmm everything at 0. For how long?

Stayed with nitrate at 0 for basically the life of the tank, 9 months or so then i stripped it down. v well filtered tank, decent amount of plants (not like full dense planted tanks, just a decent amount if that makes sense) and good maintenance and most importantly, local tap water with 0 nitrate in!!! Sallyanne, lives not far from me so there's a strong chance her water is from the same source and also has 0 nitrate.

believe me...... dont believe me..... tbh i don't care that much. I know how it was running

but with sallyanne, if you look through her posts over the last few weeks, she had a filter running on the old tank for several years, the tank was too small so as it's inhabitants got a bit older the filter started to struggle with the bio load so she ended up with poor water quality, one of the goldies got a disease and sadly passed on. I gave her a bit of advice on the water and she followed it all and the water quality improved. around a week ago she got a bigger tank and moved the 1 remaining goldie into it along with the filter taking care to not let the bacteria die off. the new tank was filled entirley with new water, so at 0 nitrate from the tap and a lightly stocked tank, in the space of 1 week it's not going to have raised significantly and home nitrate test kits are not very accurate so may not be measuring the small amount in there if there is any at all. after she came on the forum it only took a couple of days to get ammonia and nitrite stable at 0, they've been steady ever since. if the tank wasn't cycled the ammonia would not be at 0.

 

[sallyann]

Thanks miss wiggle, as you said in your last post, you know my tank situation, so can comment better on my readings, the tank is fantastic, goldie much happier. I am happy to follow your advice, you have helped me so much, and in my opinion make the most sense to my Newbie skills!!

Am going to continue doing 25% water changes weekly, but when should I vac the gravel, it is quite clean at the moment, I can do a nitrate test on my water too, if it would clear things up, I do live near to you, so possibly same water, I know the ph is 8.4 of my tap water.

Goldie does sometimes have a rest period on an afternoon mostly, could be from swimming around in a much larger tank!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

You should always know what your basseline readings are from your tap water so yes test it for ph, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.

gravel vac each time you do a water change, goldies can be quite messy so good to make sure the substrate doesn't build up waste.

 

[sallyann]

Ok, I will test my tap water and post back on its results, ta.