The.WishMaster
New Member
Hi Experts!! I have a question as a newbie.
I am very new to the hobby and after doing a lot of research into making a low-tech low maintenance tank (Followed MD fish tank & a lot of forums) I setup my first tank 1 month ago which is heavily planted and cycled. (180L - 100cm long)
I am monitoring water parameters once a week and I have little to no nitrates so far. Max I measured has been <1ppm and once it was 5ppm after a fertilizer dosage.
I have 2 big filters running (70% biomedia and 30% mechanical filtration) and have a thick 4 layered substrate to house bacteria.
Bio load is (4 corydoras, 15 neon tetras, 4 honey gouramis, 2 pearl gouramis, 2 golden rams, 2 assassin snails, 4 guppies)
The question is this that why don't I have any nitrates?
Did I do such a good job that plants and bacteria are getting rid of all the nitrates for me or there is something wrong with my testing kit? I am using a proper testing kit (JBL professional testing kit) and also I check with JBL testing strips as well. Same results in both testing = 0 nitrates. So I want to know if this is normal or not and if its bad not to have any or very little nitrates.
I designed the system to do a once a month 20% water change IF needed but I dont know if I should do a water change if my ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are at 0ppm. Are these parameters ok/safe for my fishes?
My plants are thriving and growing like crazy. I did have algae in the beginning which I resolved by stopping my fert dosing and reducing light period. I will install co2 system today as well so my monetcarlo and hairgrass can start carpeting which is not happening currently.
Help / feedback is appreciated!
I am very new to the hobby and after doing a lot of research into making a low-tech low maintenance tank (Followed MD fish tank & a lot of forums) I setup my first tank 1 month ago which is heavily planted and cycled. (180L - 100cm long)
I am monitoring water parameters once a week and I have little to no nitrates so far. Max I measured has been <1ppm and once it was 5ppm after a fertilizer dosage.
I have 2 big filters running (70% biomedia and 30% mechanical filtration) and have a thick 4 layered substrate to house bacteria.
Bio load is (4 corydoras, 15 neon tetras, 4 honey gouramis, 2 pearl gouramis, 2 golden rams, 2 assassin snails, 4 guppies)
The question is this that why don't I have any nitrates?
Did I do such a good job that plants and bacteria are getting rid of all the nitrates for me or there is something wrong with my testing kit? I am using a proper testing kit (JBL professional testing kit) and also I check with JBL testing strips as well. Same results in both testing = 0 nitrates. So I want to know if this is normal or not and if its bad not to have any or very little nitrates.
I designed the system to do a once a month 20% water change IF needed but I dont know if I should do a water change if my ammonia/nitrites/nitrates are at 0ppm. Are these parameters ok/safe for my fishes?
My plants are thriving and growing like crazy. I did have algae in the beginning which I resolved by stopping my fert dosing and reducing light period. I will install co2 system today as well so my monetcarlo and hairgrass can start carpeting which is not happening currently.
Help / feedback is appreciated!