Tetra Safe Start Question?

[BETTY BOO]

im cyling a fish tank using tetra safestart as ive heard many success stories.its been 5 days and the ammonia is not 0 but not 0.25 either.its a very small amout and has been for 5 days but it does state that a small amount will show throughout the cycle.the nitrite is at 0 but the nitrate is at 20.how do i have high nitrate when ive seen no nitrite spike?my tap water has a nitrate reading of 10 so the fact that its at 20 shows its working.anyway i do have a few fish in there and ive not changed the water for 5 days as it states not to do any water changes for 10-14 days.is the nitrate toxic at 20 or is it ok?? im testing everyday.

 

[Ruskull]

No, a nitrate reading of 20 ppm isn't bad at all.

It's a highly debated topic as to whether or not these quick bottled bacteria solutions actually work. I was desperate so I tried one that was made by either Sechem or Nutrifin, I can't remember which. I honestly saw a faster cycle than I expected but I had also seeded the filter using media from one of my other tanks so I can't be sure it helped or not.

 

[BETTY BOO]

im using the api liquid test kit.what nitrate reading is too high??

 

[Essjay]

Nitrate has to be well over 100 to be considered toxic. In the UK, water companies are allowed up to 50pppm nitrate in the water supply. Even if you had that level coming out of your taps, there would still be no need to worry.

 

[BETTY BOO]

so why are we told to keep the nitrate under 20??

ive just retested and the nitrate is reading 40? do you think i should do a water change??? say 50%??

thanks

 

[phantomlink]

Test your tap water and see how many Nitrates are in it then you will know the minimum your tank will be at

 

[Ruskull]

Test your tap water and see how many Nitrates are in it then you will know the minimum your tank will be at

Great advice right there.

My tanks are always around 40 ppm nitrate by the end of the week when the water change is due. Sometimes as high as 80 ppm if I've been a bad fishkeeper and let it go longer.......

so why are we told to keep the nitrate under 20??

ive just retested and the nitrate is reading 40? do you think i should do a water change??? say 50%??

thanks

A water change is always a good idea but 50% might be overdoing it. Maybe do a 25% change today & then another 25% in a couple more days.

 

[BETTY BOO]

the nitrate is 10 from my tap

 

[Essjay]

so why are we told to keep the nitrate under 20??

You will find some people who say that, but a more realistic target is to keep the nitrate reading below the level in your tapwater plus 20. Test your tapwater nitrate, then the tank water just before you do a water change. So long as the tank reading is no more than 20 higher than the tapwater reading, that's OK. If it's more than 20 higher, you might want to consider if you are overstocked or not doing enough water changes.

Edit - you posted as I was typing. if your tapwater is 10 nitrate, you should try to keep the tank nitrate from getting higher than 30. Your reading of 20 in the tank is fine.

 

[BETTY BOO]

ok thanks

 

[BETTY BOO]

got hold of some 7 year old mature sponge from someone today.a very large amount.stuck it straight into my external.should this help cycle my tank?? ammonia is 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 10 how long should it take

 

[phantomlink]

IIf you.add.enough.ammonia to get you to 5ppm and.you retest in twelve.hours.and.you have the.same.stats.as now, you're good.to.go

 

[Ruskull]

Adding mature media is the fastest, best way to cycle the tank in my humble opinion. You may get lucky and have enough to cycle it immediately. The only way to know for sure is to do as the previous poster said & dose ammonia & check the stats after 12 hours. If you really want to be absolutely sure, do it again, it's only another day right?

Then you can start picking out your new fish

 

[Essjay]

i do have a few fish in there

Betty Boo has fish in the tank. Don't add ammonia, that's for before you get fish!


BB, it's impossible to say how long it will take after adding some mature media. As it's quite a big bit it shouldn't take long.
Has your ammonia reading ever gone above 0.25? Quite a few people have found they don't get the zero colour with the api ammonia tester, especially if they are reading it under fluorescent or energy saving light bulbs. Do you have any bottled water in the house that you could test? Not tapwater because that could contain traces of ammonia.

 

[BETTY BOO]

of course i wont add ammonia.yes the ammonia has gone to 0.50 on saturday then i done a 50% water change.then it went down to 0.25.that day i added the mature media.now im finding it real hard to read the results.whats the best light to get the correct reading.its not 0.25 but not 0 either.what ever ammonia is in there its very small.ive been feeding every other day.i normally fishless cycle with pure ammonia but ive heard great things about tetra safe start so i decided to try it.its been 10 days today.nitrite is 0 and nitrate is about 15.no i dont have any bottled water but could get some.