Test Results Help

[X-Pande-R]

i know ammonia is deadly, which is the other 1 nitrite or nitrate????
My readings are Ammonia 0, Nitrate 5.0, Nitrite 0.25 does this mean my tank is
cycled???? Are these readings normal?? or dangerous???

[fishfreaks]

i believe its nitrates that are deadly

[Fishfirst]

Nitrites is the deadly one... NO2... Nitrates can be tolerated up to 40 ppm I believe

[Sly Guy]

well i am going to start by assuming this is freswater. and that being the case

Nitrate is basically what feeds plants and algea so if u have an algea problem or fish just seem stressed then that is fixed by a partial water change and a good start up stuff like start right or start zyme should be kept below 40ppm and tested weekly

NITRITE is a little easier to see if fish are in tank if nitrite is high u will also have ammonia high fish will stop eating and slow way down. nitrite is waste product produced by bacteria in the biological filter as it breaks down ammonia it should be kept below .5ppm and should test at least once a week.
and they make a remover to add to take ammonia and nitrite out but havnt ever had to use it 25% water change usually does the trick. Nitrite is the real harmful one

Thats not to say that ph and nitrate and alkalinity are not the all need to be kept in the right levels
but to answer your question i guess nitrites are bad very very bad and your readings look pretty good

[flynngriff]

Nitrites are the worst of the two.

As the waste in the tank is cycled by the bacteria, ammonia is converted to nitrites, and then the nitrites are converted into nitrates. You'll know your tank is fully cycled when you only have nitrates, with zero ammonia and zero nitrites.

Sounds like you're almost there!

Good luck!

Crap... That was a typo, I have corrected it now. Sorry.

[DavidDoyle]

UGH- I really hate when people who have no clue give bad information as if it were fact. Please stop you are harming other peoples fish and tanks.

Ammonia at any measurable concentration is toxic to fish- some fish can handle it better while others can't handle any at all. Nitrite is also toxic to fish, in some ways more so than ammonia. The most common symptom of nitrite problems is fish having trouble breathing. A bit if salt in the water will alleviate this somewhat and the salt will be removed by subsequent water changes. Nitrates are the least deadly of the three. For most fish the concentrations need to get fairly high before it effects fish badly. 20ppm is acceptable, at 40 you should be doing water change but fish can survive in even higher concentrations.

Most so called starter products aside from Bir-spira are not worth anything and in fact can cause other problems in a tank. many are loaded with phosphates and will do little more than cause algae.

Not only can you have high nitrites and 0 ammonia in tank, but this is the normal course of events for a tank being cycled for the first time. Ammonia zeros out while nitrites are spiking.

As for X-Pande-R, your tank is about 1/2 cycled, nitrites are at toxic levels but should be about ready to peak and beging to come down. The charts below was taken from the FINS site and should help you understand the cycling process:

[Fishfirst]

Thank you David for posting the nitrogen cycle pick... I had the same one ready to go up! Yes ammonia and nitrite are the ones really bad for your fish... nitrate is the less leathal of the three, and if kept under 40ppm is fairly harmless... Your cycle is almost done... already some nitrates are showing up, that means you have a good population of the bacteria known as nitro bacter in the tank and it won't be long before your tank is completely cycled...

[X-Pande-R]

ok so basically wait till my nitrates reach 50.Also i've heard it is good to add live bacteria(bottled) into the tank weekly is this true????Is to much bacteria harmful?ALso what are the maxuim level of ammonia nirite and nirate levels at are considered normal??

[Fishfirst]

most bactiera suppliments are "snake oil" basically they don't work... I would just wait out the cycle... you are almost done anyway. Optimal levels of ammonia nitrite and nitrates would be 0, 0, 5-15... maximum levels (most fish can tolerate) of ammonia nitrite and nitrates would be 0, 5, 40

[X-Pande-R]

so in my case my levels are normal?

[Fishfirst]

completely normal for a new tank... in a few days you probably will be able to add fish!

[fishfreaks]

yay for you!

[MyraVan]

I absolutely love that nitrogen cycle graph. I'd read a bit about the nitrogen cycle, but when I first saw that graph, it just made it so clear. Every fish shop should have a huge poster of that up on their wall, and not let anyone of of the shop with new fish until they understand it completely.

[X-Pande-R]

Why would they, they make more money this way.