Why Am I Showing No Ammonia Or Nitrite ?

[libbyloo]

Started a fish in cycle last friday. (125 litre jewel rio, 6 cherry barbs) With a bottle of tetra safestart ( half the bottle was put in 4 days before the fish), other half put in 20 minutes before i put the fish in.

On saturday I done 30% water change because ammonia was 0.50, no levels of nitrite, nitrate was 0.40. After the water change ammonia went down to 0.25ppm. The next day there was no trace of ammonia, still no nitrite.

Monday- ammonia 0.00, nitrite 0.00
Tuesday-ammonia 0.00, nitrite 0.00
Wednesday-ammonia 0.00, nitrite 0.00, nitrate between 20-40ppm
Today- ammonia 0.00, nitrite 0.00, ph 8, nitrate between 20-40ppm

Is it normal that 5 days on the trot i have had no ammonia, considering this is a brand new tank and set up less than a week?

Btw fish look very healthy + plants doing well and growing lots.

Was never aware of the fishless cycle either until coming on this site at the weekend, everything I have done has been from the local shops advice.

But now i am confused!

 

[Ch4rlie]

 
Afraid am very doubtful your tank is cycled. It usually takes about 4 to 8 weeks to do a normal fish less cycle. 
 
Sometimes it takes a while for nitrite to show up once bacteria starts to colonise inside your filter.
Tetra Safe Start can be hit or miss in whether it will actually contain live bacteria to start the cycle of your tank, so not sure at this stage if it has worked to any effect at all.
 
You are now doing effectively a fish in cycle, this will take much longer to cycle the tank.
 
Have a read of this if you have not already done so.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
I'd actually recommend you take your Cherry Barbs back to LFS or re-home them and start doing a fish less cycle, will be much easier and a lot less hard work this way.
 
Sorry to be bearer of negative news for you. 

 

[libbyloo]

 
Afraid am very doubtful your tank is cycled. It usually takes about 4 to 8 weeks to do a normal fish less cycle. 
 
Sometimes it takes a while for nitrite to show up once bacteria starts to colonise inside your filter.
Tetra Safe Start can be hit or miss in whether it will actually contain live bacteria to start the cycle of your tank, so not sure at this stage if it has worked to any effect at all.
 
You are now doing effectively a fish in cycle, this will take much longer to cycle the tank.
 
Have a read of this if you have not already done so.
 
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first/
 
I'd actually recommend you take your Cherry Barbs back to LFS or re-home them and start doing a fish less cycle, will be much easier and a lot less hard work this way.
 
Sorry to be bearer of negative news for you. 

Thanks for the prompt reply ch4rlie!

I understand it will take a while for the nitrite to show, but after reading post after post about fish cycling...i am confused how i have shown no ammonia in 5 days?

I know its going to be a lot more work, but i have the time on my hands + really do like my barbs, so going to do my best to keep them healthy!

Had i known about fishless cycle prior, thats the way i would of gone!

 

[fluttermoth]

If your tank is fairly heavily planted, there's every chance that they're absorbing all the ammonia the fish are producing.
 
Just keep testing, every day, and be prepared to do large water changes if you do see any ammonia or nitrite.

 

[the_lock_man]

Tetra Safe Start has a better reputation than certain other "similar" products, a combination of that and the plants could produce the results you've been seeing.
 
Keep testing, but the longer you go without seeing further ammonia, the more confident you should be.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Tetra Safe Start has a better reputation than certain other "similar" products, a combination of that and the plants could produce the results you've been seeing.
 
Keep testing, but the longer you go without seeing further ammonia, the more confident you should be.

 
 
I agree with TLM.
 
SafeStart has had better results than some other products that I've seen used by members here.  Further, the really good thing is that you didn't overstock your tank, and that is really the key to any fish-in cycle.  You used the right fish (cherry barbs are very hardy), lightly stocked the tank and used a bacterial supplement.
 
it is possible that your tank is cycled, but I wouldn't trust it just yet, but it is believable, for me.  Keep testing and if you have a full two weeks without any ammonia showing up, I think that you can be very confident and consider bumping your bioload up a bit more.
 
But, I'd wait a while longer.

 

[daizeUK]

I think it's too optimistic to think the tank might be cycled until we have seen nitrite appear and then disappear.  It's more likely that there is a problem with the test kit.

 

[libbyloo]

Tetra Safe Start has a better reputation than certain other "similar" products, a combination of that and the plants could produce the results you've been seeing.
 
Keep testing, but the longer you go without seeing further ammonia, the more confident you should be.

  

Tetra Safe Start has a better reputation than certain other "similar" products, a combination of that and the plants could produce the results you've been seeing.
 
Keep testing, but the longer you go without seeing further ammonia, the more confident you should be.

 
 
I agree with TLM.
 
SafeStart has had better results than some other products that I've seen used by members here.  Further, the really good thing is that you didn't overstock your tank, and that is really the key to any fish-in cycle.  You used the right fish (cherry barbs are very hardy), lightly stocked the tank and used a bacterial supplement.
 
it is possible that your tank is cycled, but I wouldn't trust it just yet, but it is believable, for me.  Keep testing and if you have a full two weeks without any ammonia showing up, I think that you can be very confident and consider bumping your bioload up a bit more.


 
But, I'd wait a while longer.

  

I think it's too optimistic to think the tank might be cycled until we have seen nitrite appear and then disappear.  It's more likely that there is a problem with the test kit.

I will keep on testing and post in a week or so's time my results!

I am using api master test kit. I have had readings on ammonia and nitrate, but not nitrite. What I will do tomorrow is take some water to my lfs and get him to test it and see!

 

[daizeUK]

Try to get them to show you the test results or tell you the exact value.  Some LFS seem to think that anything under about 2ppm qualifies as 'your water is fine.'

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Agree with the above... ask to SEE the results, not just for them to say "its fine" or "the levels are too high".  Tell them that you are looking to confirm your results (don't tell them what your results are) and you need to know EXACTLY what they find.

 

[libbyloo]

Agree with the above... ask to SEE the results, not just for them to say "its fine" or "the levels are too high".  Tell them that you are looking to confirm your results (don't tell them what your results are) and you need to know EXACTLY what they find.

  

Try to get them to show you the test results or tell you the exact value.  Some LFS seem to think that anything under about 2ppm qualifies as 'your water is fine.'

Nothing wrong with my test kit, the results were exactly the same at my lfs.

6th day with no ammonia and no nitrite!

 

[the_lock_man]

Looking very promising indeed.

 

[libbyloo]

Looking very promising indeed.

I wont jump the gun and will keep on testing every day!

Could I do a water change, and if so what %? Or is it not necessary at this point? I don't want to slow anything down, last water change I done was a week tomorrow which was about 30%.

 

[the_lock_man]

I should do a water change when your nitrate starts to look over the 40ppm mark.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Agreed... water changes at this point aren't really necessary.