Water Conditions After Cycling.

[Aquatic_Az]

Ok forgive me if this sounds stupid still a novice.

So just to double check im doing things right, after finishing the cycling process on a tank and then adding fish. What should the water condition levels be consistant at, ammonia, nitrate etc.

Any help much appreciated

 

[pippoodle]

ammonia 0
nitrite 0
nitrates try and keep below 20 water changes should do this but it depends on the nitrates from your tap water so test that first so you get a base line result

i try and keep mine below 10 but sometimes my tap water is 20

 

[tom_os]

ammonia = 0 ppm

nitrIte = 0 ppm

nitrAte= between 10 and 20 ppm

Hope that helps!

Beat me to it ^^ =]

 

[Aquatic_Az]

Brilliant, thanks guys

 

[pippoodle]

Brilliant, thanks guys

very welcome and dont worry no questions are dumb we are all here for help and to gain and pass on any knowledge we have

cheers Sarah xx

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, Welcome to TFF there AA,

I'd agree that the major thing you've acheived in either fishless or fish-in cycling is:

ammonia staying at zero, nitrite(NO2) staying at zero

Nitrate(NO3) is not really useful to you as a single-reading value but is more valuable as a trend of several readings. A well maintained tank will usually have a nitrate(NO3) level that is only 5, 10 or maybe 20 ppm *above* whatever it is coming in at as the source (tap usually) water reading. So if you have nitrate=0 coming from the tap, you would hope that your tank would settle in at NO3=20ppm or NO3=10ppm. If it kept pushing up to 40ppm or something like that then we'd be worried your gravel-vaccing technique or some problem like that wasn't good enough. Note that having low nitrate levels is desirable, but technically fish have done ok in extreme levels like 400ppm or even 1000ppm, so its not necessarily a factor that kills fish.

Another tank water stat that you want to periodically monitor is pH. If you have soft water (low KH, or carbonate hardness.. aka the "buffering" of your water) then the nitrification process performed by your biofilter may drive the pH downward enough to impair its own operation. Another way to understand it is that the beneficial bacteria need some calcium to eat, along with the ammonia and oxygen we usually think about, and they can "use up" the majority of the calcium when there is not as much in the water (hard water has more calcium, soft water has much less.) When the pH drops to about 6.2 the nitrification process, the biofilter, can stop performing and ammonia and nitrite will begin to rise.

Sorry that was so long, but hope it may make sense on re-reading perhaps!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Aquatic_Az]

Thanks waterdrop some more great info from you guys

 

[OldMan47]

WD, check your writeup. It is carbonates that are used up by the acids that the bacteria form. The carbonates are what is measured by carbonate hardness, KH, not calcium and magnesium which are measured by general hardness, GH. The advice to periodically check pH because of the nitifying bacteria is spot on but the specific chemical in the explanation was just a bit off.

 

[waterdrop]

WD, check your writeup. It is carbonates that are used up by the acids that the bacteria form. The carbonates are what is measured by carbonate hardness, KH, not calcium and magnesium which are measured by general hardness, GH. The advice to periodically check pH because of the nitifying bacteria is spot on but the specific chemical in the explanation was just a bit off.

Yes, you're so right! My explanation could cause misunderstanding. The chemolithoautotrophic bacteria do need some calcium and its *GH* that shows one a number that includes calcium. The KH is just showing the carbonates, not the calcium. The whole thing is interlinked (GH, KH and pH and the cycling process) and in my effort to emphasize that KH is the most useful tool to use along with pH, I have incorrectly implied that KH tells you your calcium, which is does not.

~~waterdrop~~