sorry to bug you guys again but i've noticed that my one tank that cycled completely about 1 month ago is reading around 0 nitrates and never seems to be increasing. i even skipped a 15% water change to see if they would show up. my ammonia and nitrites are still 0 which is great. i'm using API liquid drop test kits for all of my testing and i just bought the test kit 2 months ago so i know it can't be bad. I have one fantail and two african dwarf frogs in there so i would assume that would be enough to produce substantial nitrates ina 15 gallon tank. I used some ammo-lock during cycling and then later made a few very large water changes afterwards to take it out because i read that it distorted test readings. any thoughts would be appreciated.

That is very odd. It sounds like you're doing everything right... maybe you've had a cycle crash? In that case, you'd be building up ammonia or nitrites, but you're not... How often do you do water changes, how much do you change, what water conditioners do you use, and are there any other additives?

Also, what is your filter?
And finally, do you have live plants? Plants take up nitrogen (ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate) through their roots, and could be eating your nitrates! Even then, I would expect you to have at least SOME reading on your tests.

Keep us updated!

Penguin's questions are very good. I'll just add one more. Do you have anything in your filter besides normal activated carbon? Is there any chance you have ammo-chips or anything else that eliminates ammonia before it can get to the cycle bacteria?

the filter i have is an aqualclear 50 for 50 gallon tanks, ... and there is one thing that you said that makes me think...other than getting the biological filter that usually goes in there, i noticed when i later set up the tank that aquaclear also made those "ammo-chips" that are smaller and "eliminate ammonia in new tanks" so i used them in place of the normal bio-bag. I recently realized that i needed to use the regular packet for the porous surface that would create a good surface for bb's to live on, so i bought one and put it in the media basket, but i kept the ammo-chips in as well. how bad is my cycle messed up? after 2 months aren't ammo-chips worthless anyways? i can't figure out why there would be problems there. I use NovAqua water conditioner, i don't use anything else and i won't touch ammo-lock again because it jacked up my test readings...I'm really hoping my 40 gallon finishes cycling quickly so i have a safe home for my two fish...i dont' trust my 20 now and i feel like i can never trust my test results. any advice would be appreciated asap

The API Nitrate kit is notorious for registering 0 nitrates if you do not follow the steps precisely. 1. 10 drops from bottle one. 2. Invert few times. 3. Shake bottle 2 for 30 seconds and 10 drops. 4. Shake for 60 seconds.

It's also possible you have a mini cycle crash. You could go for up to a week with 0/0/0 reading then you will get a blip of ammo then nitrites. Then the tank will cycle again after about 2 weeks.

Well there's your answer. The ammo-chips in your filter are probably sucking up all the ammonia before it can get to the good bacteria. So your cycle is probably toast. Your fish aren't currently in danger, as your ammo-chips are keeping them safe. I don't know how long they're good for, but if I were you I would recharge them soon, using salt water as the instructions say. This makes them let out all their ammonia and be ready to start over.

This means one thing you absolutely cannot do is to add salt to your aquarium, as it will cause the ammo chips to let go of all the ammonia they built up right into the tank.




Sounds to me like your test results are exactly right. The ammonia chips and water changes should indeed lead you to 0/0/0 results unless you have nitrite or nitrate in your water supply.

If you're cycling a new tank, I don't see any reason to bother recycling the 20. Just keep the ammo-chips fresh until you're ready to move the fish to the new, cycled tank.

Finally, NovAqua is good for what it does, but there are things it doesn't do. You may want to pick up some AmQuel+. Together they're a complete package.

well, first thing i did today was take the ammo chips out, and last night i vacuumed the gravel for the first time in literally about 5 weeks because i was waiting for nitrates to pop up and changed about 25% of the water...today i vacuumed again and changed about 45% of the water ...i then tested for nitrates using the API drop test correctly (guilty of not reading directions...i just read the bottles which each said "10 drops". the nitrates and it came up around 7.0 ppm. Sooooo...not only did i have 7.0 today but that was after very substantial water changes which makes me wonder if my nitrates were at a usual --> high level before i did my first gravel vac last night. I'm just going to check the water twice a day now for ammonia to see if what is left of my cycle can operate without those ammochips....and pray my 40 gallon finishes cycling fast. Thanks for the all of the tips and help...the info on ammo-chips/ zeolite, and API nitrate testing was invaluable.

I'd keep using the ammo chips on your old tank if I were you. Right now you're trying to cycle both tanks - why bother? Keep the old tank 'safe' with ammo chips until you move them to the new one. Resfresh the ammo chips regularly so they keep working. I don't see the point of taking them out at this stage.

i wanted to see if the tank still had a cycle to rebuild, do ammo-chips and zeolite products change the accuracy of tests....i know how ammo-lock in the water makes it very hard to get an accurate assessment of the ammonia, i was wondering if ammo-chips do the same....because with the chips out of the tank....my tests are still reading 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 7.0 nitrate after 3 days of being without the ammo-chips...

I'm not familar enough with the product to know for sure. If the instructions/info booklet doesn't say anything, you could try contacting the manufacturer.

Based on your current situation - and the thought that, after 3 days, any interferences the ammo-chips had any the test (if there was any in the first place) would probably be dissipating - it seems like your cycle survived enough. Keep a close eye for several days more though.