Has anyone seen my nitrAtes?

[Mith]

I'm getting just a little bit worreied. Shortly after cycling my tank, my nitrates dissappeared....well, they never came back!!!!

I have zero amonia, zero Ites or Ates. I would have thought that by now I'd have SOME nitrAtes. Is it possible to never get them back? Excluding 5 of my herbivore deaths which I've concluded were due to fighting simply because they always faught, I've only lost two fish for bunknown reasons.

Anyone got any ideas? Water seems clean and nice, I've even got some green moss growing on the rocks!

[Mvjnz]

Do you have a lot of fast growing plants? If so, I'd say your nitrate is just so low that the test isn't detecting it. I've had that happen. If you want good plant growth and avoid algae which thrive with little or not nitrates, I'd suggest getting some liquid fertiliser and start adding 1/3 of the recommended dose and work your way up to the regular dose.

[Mith]

No plants....

[Mvjnz]

How long since your last waterchange and how big is the tank?

[Mith]

How long since your last waterchange and how big is the tank?

I do weekly WC @ 30%. This week I did a 50% WC. My tank is a 125G. I had LOTS of nittAtes when I was cycling the tank...

[dmagerl]

Make sure you really wack bottle #2 of the test chemical against a hard surface to dislodge the metal flakes that congeal into a mass on the bottom of the bottle. Failure to do that results in a "no nitrates" test result.

[Lady Hobbs]

You do not have nitrates because you have a very clean tank and do lots of water changes. Nothing wrong with that.

[Mith]

You do not have nitrates because you have a very clean tank and do lots of water changes. Nothing wrong with that.

THAT'S what I was hoping my dear dear Miss Hobbs! WOOT WOOT!

[fishlover49]

You do not have nitrates because you have a very clean tank and do lots of water changes. Nothing wrong with that.


Wow! Can't beat that! thumbs2:

[Alfcea]

It is always healthy to have a bit of nitrates. As Mvjnz said, there are some types of algae that can thrive if your nitrates are so low that they are not detectable. The resulting imbalance (along with the phosphates that are surely there) could be taken advantage of by opportunistic algae...

[terrapin24h]

mith--
i think you may not be shaking the 2nd bottle. You have to shake the second bottle a full 30 seconds before adding it to the tube, then skae the tube for a full minute. Failure to do so results in a 0 trates reading. That said, if you are taking your readings after doing a water change, you could very well not have enough to read.

--chris

[Wild Turkey]

I agree, shake the bottle like heck. Not doing it each time can also end up giving you super concentrated readings toward the end of the bottle. Its possible you have zero ates because the tank is quite clean, but isnt it high stock? High stock and no plants you should be seeing nitrates

[Dixie]

If there are no plants and no nitrates I think something is wrong unless there are very few fish in the tank. Try retesting after doing as suggested...shaking bottle #2 for a full 30 seconds & the tube for a minute after mixing. If you still don't have nitrates and do have several fish, I'd think your testing kit is old and not reliable. Let us know if you followed the directions to get your results and also the outcome if you retested.

[Mith]

THANKS GUYS!

I JUST shook the bottle and found that NOT shaking the bottle was giving false readings! NOW I have to worry that my bottle WON'T ever give proper readings because the stuff that settled at the bottom of the bottle, is not concentrated.

I just tested my water and found that the nitrAte readings are off the chart. This is probably because after shaking the bottle, the particles that have NOT been getting mixed in, are now all concentrated in less fluid.

So I'm glad that I started this thread! My problem has been solved! Now I need to get another nitrAte testing solution bottles and retest. But for now I'll do another water change becuase the tank's reading off the chart nitrAtes levels... (probably due to the above).

Thanks again guys. I gave some rep points to you people who mentioned the solution. Hope I didn't miss anyone!

GOT WATER TO CHANGE! WOOT WOOT