Neha Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 I have a question: It’s been 3 weeks (almost) since I set up my tank (10 gal) added 1 betta fish. I have gotten 0 ammonia until now. I test every other day. 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate. I do have live plants and they are starting to grow. Yesterday I added 3 root tabs and 1ml of easy green fertilizer since my tank was reading 0 nitrate and I have a cryptocoryne which needed root tabs. Today I had 0.5 ppm ammonia. I changed 30% of my water. Do I do more water changes or do I leave it at that? If I do more water changes will it not delay the cycle? If I don’t, aren’t these ammonia levels harmful for fish? I am inclined towards setting up a quarantine for Frodo and leave my tank to cycle, is this a better idea? Are the root tabs causing ammonia spike? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colu Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 If you have ammonia I would do 50% daily water changes and add prime to detoxify any nitrites and ammonia and test daily till ammonia level goes back down to zero 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 (edited) I’m guessing that it’s just starting to cycle. Since you have a Betta you can do a fish in cycle. It sounds like you know what you’re looking for, Ammonia will rise and then fall as Nitrite rises, then both will fall to zero as Nitrate rises. You can do water changes to keep the fish safe as the tank cycles. Edited August 13, 2021 by Patrick_G 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 0.5 ppm ammonia is not enough to be toxic to fish, and I assume you decreased that reading by 30% when you did your water change. You should keep testing. Once you know you have an ammonia issue, you should test more often to make sure it is not getting worse. If you are using the API test kit, it measures total ammonia. Some portion of that total ammonia is free ammonia, which is the toxic kind. The higher your pH, the more free ammonia you have. So the higher your pH, the more important it is to stay on top of the ammonia issue. 3 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neha Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 On 8/13/2021 at 12:22 PM, Patrick_G said: I’m guessing that it’s just starting to cycle. Since you have a Betta you can do a fish in cycle. It sounds like you know what you’re looking for, Ammonia will rise and then fall as Nitrite rises, then both will fall to zero as Nitrate rises. You can do water changes to keep the fish safe as the tank cycles. Great! So at what levels of ammonia should I do water changes? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick_G Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 The basic answer is .5 ppm, but also check out the info from @Colu and @HH Morant above. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neha Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 What I still don’t understand is, why and how do I have 0 nitrates when I added a pump of easy green just yesterday? Did my plants eat it all? I do have one of those cartridges in my filter which probably contain carbon. Could that be removing nitrates? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 The carbon does not remove nitrates. I don't know what the explanation is for zero nitrates. With one betta in a 10-gallon tank the fish and fish food are probably not creating much ammonia/nitrite/nitrate. I am not sure if a pump of Easy Green causes an immediate rise in the nitrate level or not. As you pointed out, the plants are consuming some. 3 weeks is not very long. Until the tank is better established, things can be unpredictable. It is best to have patience, keep testing, and do what you need to do to protect the fish. The rest will come with time. One thing I failed to mention before - when you are having an ammonia problem, it might be a good idea to skip feeding for a day or two. Uneaten fish food and fish poop create ammonia. But with one fish, maybe a little food is not such a big deal. It just depends on what your testing tells you. Good luck! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 One possible explanation for a reading of zero nitrates is that sometimes people do not do the API nitrate test correctly. The API nitrate test is a little tricky. You need to make sure you follow the directions exactly. Put in the 10 drops from bottle number one, invert the test tube two or three times to mix the drops in the water. Shake bottle number two for 30 seconds before putting 10 drops into the test tube. Then shake the test tube for 60 seconds. The underlined part is sometimes overlooked, and can result in a false zero reading. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HH Morant Posted August 13, 2021 Share Posted August 13, 2021 Welcome to the forum, Neha! I just noticed you are new here. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Neha Posted August 13, 2021 Author Share Posted August 13, 2021 Thanks a lot for those replies. They were very helpful! Yeah I just joined and I’m also new in the hobby. Appreciate the help and the welcome very much! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gideyon Posted August 15, 2021 Share Posted August 15, 2021 On 8/13/2021 at 2:16 PM, HH Morant said: Shake bottle number two for 30 seconds One person described it as shaking violently. There's a powder inside that needs to mix well. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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