Tank(s) not cycling--too much plants?

[lynxfishy]

Hello Everyone,

I am fairly new to the freshwater aquarium hobby and I had a question about my aquariums not cycling (I wasn't sure where to put this question so apologies if this is the wrong spot).

I have two aquariums:

-the first is a 5 gallon has been up and running for 2 years now. It houses 1 male betta, a nerite snail, and a good amount of aquarium plants (frog bit, Anubis nana petite, bacopa, java fern, and rotala trimmings from my larger tank. 

- the second is a 10 gallon community tank that has been up and running for 9 months  with 1 dwarf powder blue gourami, 5 neon tetras, 2 amano shrimp, and a good amount of aquarium plants as well (frog bit, java fern, Anubis, bacopa, rotala, and some moss balls. 

neither tank has cycled. Every time I test both aquariums with my API test kit it reads as zero in ammonia, nitrites, and nitrates. I've tried adding beneficial bacteria to both tanks via fritz turbo start but nothing happened, and my tanks still read as zero. I still do weekly water changes on both tanks, changing 1 gallon of water from my 5 gallon, and 3 from my 10 gallon (my house plants love this water). I thought maybe my API test kit was expired/faulty so I bought a new API test kit and it reads the same thing as of this morning. For both tanks I have the following reading:

PH: 7.8

Ammonia: 0PPM

Nitrite: 0PPM

Nitrate: 0PPM

Am I doing something wrong? I read that sometimes a densely planted aquarium will not cycle, and I wonder if that is my case? Is it bad if my aquarium isn't cycled? Having a cycled tank seems like a fundamental thing to do, but mine just won't seem to cycle. I tried doing a fishless cycle for my 10 gallon tank when I was first setting it up, and it did cycle that way. but when I added my dwarf gourami, the cycle broke and it never cycled again, even after I added other fish in small quantities. I would love to hear any thoughts on this topic, and have attached pictures of my tanks below (my 5 gallon's frog bit needs a trim so please excuse the jungle look haha)

 

 

[MattyM]

I'm not sure what to say, everything looks good! Do you dose any ferts? I wonder if the plants are just sucking everything up. I also wonder what a regular test strip would show. 

If you tanks weren't cycled your fish would prob not be doing so well. 

[Tommy Vercetti]

Ammonia and nitrites should read zero in a cycled tank. The Nitrate could be very close to zero depending on how many plants and how much you feed the aquarium.

 

Also regarding the api  test kit: I like them and use them but find often times that the Nitrate test is not very repeatable. The bottles require (at least) 1 minute of vigorous shaking before adding to the test tube.

You could try to skip a water change and then test right before the next scheduled water change. I would still not be surprised to see 0 nitrates in a highly planted tank. 

Those floating plants are probably doing their job and eating the Nitrate. 

[Guppysnail]

I’m going to say you are cycled. With such low stock/ bioload levels and decent plants the plants are most likely consuming the nitrate as quickly as it appears. Unless you see ammonia or nitrite I would stop worry completely. 
The whole of cycling means never seeing the ammonia or nitrite.  If there is none you are fine. 

[Cory]

 

[DebSills]

I think you are cycled, as long as your fish are healthy and you see 0 ammonia and 0 nitirite, your tanks are cycled - I would say one thing for the liquid API test, for nitrate, if you don't shake bottle 2 for at least 30 seconds and then the test tube for at least a  minute, you won't get a good reading...make sure you are following the directions exactly...I was doing it wrong in the beginning and never got a reading for nitrate even with dosing easy green

even so, I think you are doing fine, the tanks look great and the fish look very healthy - great job!!

[knee]

You have more plants than livestock, it's normal to not get any reading. My shrimp tank doesn't have a filter but it's heavily planted and I get 0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Plants consume ammonia before nitrate, so I'm assuming that the ammonia doesn't even have a chance to go through the cycle because of how much plants and how little the bioload is.

 

Edited February 16, 2023 by knee

[lynxfishy]

On 2/16/2023 at 8:51 AM, MattyM said:

I'm not sure what to say, everything looks good! Do you dose any ferts? I wonder if the plants are just sucking everything up. I also wonder what a regular test strip would show. 

If you tanks weren't cycled your fish would prob not be doing so well. 

I do dose with ferts! I use easy green 🙂

On 2/16/2023 at 8:52 AM, Tommy Vercetti said:

Ammonia and nitrites should read zero in a cycled tank. The Nitrate could be very close to zero depending on how many plants and how much you feed the aquarium.

 

Also regarding the api  test kit: I like them and use them but find often times that the Nitrate test is not very repeatable. The bottles require (at least) 1 minute of vigorous shaking before adding to the test tube.

You could try to skip a water change and then test right before the next scheduled water change. I would still not be surprised to see 0 nitrates in a highly planted tank. 

Those floating plants are probably doing their job and eating the Nitrate. 

Ah! That could very well be my problem with the API test kit, I only shake mine a little bit before using it, I'll for sure try out the shaking method. I was curious if I could just stop doing water changes and just check out the perimeters every week? Do you think the tank can sustain itself at this point?

 

On 2/16/2023 at 9:49 AM, Guppysnail said:

I’m going to say you are cycled. With such low stock/ bioload levels and decent plants the plants are most likely consuming the nitrate as quickly as it appears. Unless you see ammonia or nitrite I would stop worry completely. 
The whole of cycling means never seeing the ammonia or nitrite.  If there is none you are fine. 

This does make me feel a lot better haha, I was sure I was doing something wrong, thank you for explaining! 

On 2/16/2023 at 11:05 AM, Cory said:

 

Thank you so much for this video Cory!! It explains so much and I really appreciate it! 

On 2/16/2023 at 11:05 AM, DebSills said:

I think you are cycled, as long as your fish are healthy and you see 0 ammonia and 0 nitirite, your tanks are cycled - I would say one thing for the liquid API test, for nitrate, if you don't shake bottle 2 for at least 30 seconds and then the test tube for at least a  minute, you won't get a good reading...make sure you are following the directions exactly...I was doing it wrong in the beginning and never got a reading for nitrate even with dosing easy green

even so, I think you are doing fine, the tanks look great and the fish look very healthy - great job!!

I really think this was my problem--I wasn't really shaking the nitrate bottle that hard for that long. I'm going to try testing again doing this method. I am curious if I'll be able to hold off on water changes for a while since everything seems balanced

[lynxfishy]

On 2/16/2023 at 11:22 AM, knee said:

You have more plants than livestock, it's normal to not get any reading. My shrimp tank doesn't have a filter but it's heavily planted and I get 0 ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. Plants consume ammonia before nitrate, so I'm assuming that the ammonia doesn't even have a chance to go through the cycle because of how much plants and how little the bioload is.

 

This makes a lot of sense, thank you for sharing! I was really worried I was missing something here, but it seems the plants are just doing their job extra well haha

[Katherine]

On 2/16/2023 at 1:41 PM, lynxfishy said:

Ah! That could very well be my problem with the API test kit, I only shake mine a little bit before using it, I'll for sure try out the shaking method.

At this point you'll need a new bottle. The one you have will give you readings that are way too high if you've been doing it this way for more than just a few tests.

[Sharon M]

On 2/16/2023 at 10:30 AM, lynxfishy said:

am fairly new to the freshwater aquarium hobby

And then you show us two gorgeous, healthy tanks! 😄

You're doing great. 

My goodness those are lovely. 

[lynxfishy]

On 2/16/2023 at 1:22 PM, Sharon M said:

And then you show us two gorgeous, healthy tanks! 😄

You're doing great. 

My goodness those are lovely. 

Aw thank you so much! I really love this hobby and have tried my best to research as much as I could. I am very tempted to get a 20 gallon long tank and try out hillstream loaches, they look so cute! 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

Agreed with the others that not following the nitrate instructions EXACTLY as they’re written is most likely the problem. I made the same mistake when I first started. Shake bottle 2 HARD for 30 seconds before putting in the 10 drops. Shake the test tube HARD for 1 minute, then let sit for 5 minutes. 
 

Hopefully you’ve done just a test or 2 out of that new kit. If you have to replace the kit (again) I would replace just the nitrate test as that can be bought separately. 

[lynxfishy]

On 2/16/2023 at 3:58 PM, AllFishNoBrakes said:

Agreed with the others that not following the nitrate instructions EXACTLY as they’re written is most likely the problem. I made the same mistake when I first started. Shake bottle 2 HARD for 30 seconds before putting in the 10 drops. Shake the test tube HARD for 1 minute, then let sit for 5 minutes. 
 

Hopefully you’ve done just a test or 2 out of that new kit. If you have to replace the kit (again) I would replace just the nitrate test as that can be bought separately. 

 

On 2/16/2023 at 1:04 PM, Katherine said:

At this point you'll need a new bottle. The one you have will give you readings that are way too high if you've been doing it this way for more than just a few tests.

Thankfully this was my first test from this bottle, so hopefully it will still be ok! I just opened this kit this morning. One question: why do you have to replace the nitrate bottle? Does the important stuff just get stuck to the bottom of the bottle or..? haha sorry if this is a dumb question, I am honestly just curious 

[AllFishNoBrakes]

On 2/16/2023 at 4:01 PM, lynxfishy said:

Does the important stuff just get stuck to the bottom of the bottle or..?

Exactly. Hence why you gotta shake that bad boy!

[Monkeypoint]

On 2/16/2023 at 2:41 PM, lynxfishy said:

was curious if I could just stop doing water changes and just check out the perimeters every week? Do you think the tank can sustain itself at this point

Cory posted an excellent video about when to do water changes. I'll try to find it, but it finally all started making sense for me. Basically, you keep a close eye on your water parameters. Your tank has to be cycled because you consistently get 0 for both ammonia and nitrites. So, test for nitrates. As others have mentioned: add 10 drops from bottle 1, cap and invert it a few times. Shake bottle 2 hard for 30 seconds, add 10 drops and then shake the tube vigorously for a full minute. Let it develop for 5 minutes. As long as your nitrates stay somewhere below 40, you should be good because the levels aren't high enough to be harmful to fish, although shrimp are more sensitive so you probably want to keep them lower than 40. When your nitrate levels go up to 40 (or 20-30 if you have shrimp), do a 30% water change. If your ratio of plants to livestock remains constant and you're not changing the amount of food you're feeding, you'll figure out how often you need to do water changes. Every tank is different. You may find that you only have to do water changes once a month and that way, you wouldn't be doing more than necessary and depleting the water of minerals.

[lynxfishy]

On 2/16/2023 at 4:27 PM, Monkeypoint said:

Cory posted an excellent video about when to do water changes. I'll try to find it, but it finally all started making sense for me. Basically, you keep a close eye on your water parameters. Your tank has to be cycled because you consistently get 0 for both ammonia and nitrites. So, test for nitrates. As others have mentioned: add 10 drops from bottle 1, cap and invert it a few times. Shake bottle 2 hard for 30 seconds, add 10 drops and then shake the tube vigorously for a full minute. Let it develop for 5 minutes. As long as your nitrates stay somewhere below 40, you should be good because the levels aren't high enough to be harmful to fish, although shrimp are more sensitive so you probably want to keep them lower than 40. When your nitrate levels go up to 40 (or 20-30 if you have shrimp), do a 30% water change. If your ratio of plants to livestock remains constant and you're not changing the amount of food you're feeding, you'll figure out how often you need to do water changes. Every tank is different. You may find that you only have to do water changes once a month and that way, you wouldn't be doing more than necessary and depleting the water of minerals.

ahh this is so helpful!! Thank you so much for this! I'll also do some digging on YouTube and look for that video!