ammonia test

[scott the fishman]

HELLO FISH FAMILY! i just did a ammonia test but my eyes cant tell if i am in the 0 or the 0.25 range. what do you think? is there a diffrent kind of test like strips for ammonia testing? also after 4 weeks with out a water change, my nitrates are still at 0, why cant i get my nitrates up?

[Minanora]

I would say it's less than .25, but not 0.

How are your nitrites looking? If you have a lot of nitrites you won't see your nitrates yet.

 

Is this for a Cycle? Fishless or fish in?

If you have a lot of plants it's possible that they're eating all the nitrate as well.

[scott the fishman]

thank you my nitrites are at 0. not a new tank 5 months with plants 4 months with fish. lots of plants and pothose growing out of HTB  filters.

[Minanora]

Generally when I see my ammonia go 0, I see a few days of super high nitrite before I see my nitrates go up. Especially on a sterile (new) setup. Which is the life that my 10G used to live. I restarted that tank time and time again.

My 75 was an anomaly because I used recycled media and planted substrate. Columns are: date, test type, ammo, then nitrite, then nitrate, then water change percentage. This was with fishless fuel. My nitrates have never again gotten above 10ppm, even with adding a ton of fish. As the plants fill in, it's even lower nitrates. Then... I keep adding cuttings in there.

10/17/2021	Master	4	0	5
10/19/2021	Master	2	0.25	10	20% Change
10/20/2021	Master	0.25	4	20
10/21/2021	Master	0	2	40
10/22/2021	Master	0	0	20
10/23/2021	Master	0	0	20	20% Change

On 11/30/2021 at 2:58 PM, scott the fishman said:

thank you my nitrites are at 0. not a new tank 5 months with plants 4 months with fish. lots of plants and pothose growing out of HTB  filters.

I see a touch of pink on that nitrate test there! You're looking good imo.

It appears to me that your plants are doing their jobs. 🙂

 

And yes, there are different test strips for ammonia that you can get. Aquarium Co-Op has an Easy Ammonia Test Strip product.

[scott the fishman]

On 11/30/2021 at 2:59 PM, Minanora said:

Generally when I see my ammonia go 0, I see a few days of super high nitrite before I see my nitrates go up. Especially on a sterile (new) setup. Which is the life that my 10G used to live. I restarted that tank time and time again.

My 75 was an anomaly because I used recycled media and planted substrate. Columns are: date, test type, ammo, then nitrite, then nitrate, then water change percentage. This was with fishless fuel. My nitrates have never again gotten above 10ppm, even with adding a ton of fish. As the plants fill in, it's even lower nitrates. Then... I keep adding cuttings in there.

10/17/2021	Master	4	0	5
10/19/2021	Master	2	0.25	10	20% Change
10/20/2021	Master	0.25	4	20
10/21/2021	Master	0	2	40
10/22/2021	Master	0	0	20
10/23/2021	Master	0	0	20	20% Change

I see a touch of pink on that nitrate test there! You're looking good imo.

It appears to me that your plants are doing their jobs. 🙂

 

ok thank you!! i am still getting a WC schedule worked out.

[Minanora]

Totally get you. I feel like every time I get a tank dialed in, I add or remove something from it and have to start all over again haha.

[scott the fishman]

On 11/30/2021 at 3:08 PM, Minanora said:

Totally get you. I feel like every time I get a tank dialed in, I add or remove something from it and have to start all over again haha.

SO TRUE! i just added 8 rosy barbs. so testing water daily. think my bio load was to lite for all my plants hers a pic. would say this is a heavy planted tank?

[Odd Duck]

On 11/30/2021 at 4:46 PM, scott the fishman said:

HELLO FISH FAMILY! i just did a ammonia test but my eyes cant tell if i am in the 0 or the 0.25 range. what do you think? is there a diffrent kind of test like strips for ammonia testing? also after 4 weeks with out a water change, my nitrates are still at 0, why cant i get my nitrates up?

If you have chloramines in your water, it can apparently cause a slight false positive on the ammonia test that looks just like this, even after treatment with your dechlorinator.  This isn’t something I would worry about if all other parameters are good and it looks like they are.

[scott the fishman]

THANK YOU! thats great info.

[Minanora]

@Odd DuckI didn't even consider that! 🌈*The more you know*🌟

@scott the fishman I would consider that a pretty well planted tank. It's a glorious jungle and it's B.E.A.UTIFUL!

[Torrey]

On 11/30/2021 at 4:12 PM, scott the fishman said:

SO TRUE! i just added 8 rosy barbs. so testing water daily. think my bio load was to lite for all my plants hers a pic. would say this is a heavy planted tank?

ORD🥰