210 Water Changes

[AAVPredatory]

If you don't know all ready, the #2 bottle for the nitrates test needs to shaken very vigorously before you can use it. If you don't you can get false reading from your test.

From the looks of your picture this may be happening, as there will always be nitrates in your water, if the test shows no nitrates then you didn't shake the #2 bottle good enough. The agent can recrystalize in the bottom of the bottle. Without breaking it up and mixing very well you will get false test results.

For the Nitrite I added 5 drops and shakes the bottle for about 10 seconds.

Nitrate - I added 10 drops. Then shakes the bottle #2 for 45 seconds added 10 drops of that and set a timer for a minute and shakes the bottle for a little over a minute.

Amonia - I added 8 drops of bottle #1 & #2 and shaked for 10 seconds.

I waited 10 mins for each reading. Here are the pictures.

 

[Coryloach]

Your tank has been running for just a month. It is quite likely it is not completely cycled yet but due to the volume of water and low stock/small fish, everything is getting diluted so the tests are not picking it up yet....When did you add the fish?

Just do the water changes....If you're here to hear what you need to hear in order to do less water changes, then there's no need to ask in the first place...

 

[AAVPredatory]

Your tank has been running for just a month. It is quite likely it is not completely cycled yet but due to the volume of water and low stock/small fish, everything is getting diluted so the tests are not picking it up yet....When did you add the fish?

Just do the water changes....If you're here to hear what you need to hear in order to do less water changes, then there's no need to ask in the first place...

I bought a fish tank knowing the responsibilities of having one. I’ve been doing water changes every week but I see some ppl do them every two weeks bc they “have a big tank”. I just wanted a better idea from everyone. I added fish almost two weeks ago. They are swimming fine and living their best life. Eating twice a day. Frozen and dry bloodworms. Krill. And frozen brine shrimp.

 

[esoxlucius]

Haven’t done a water change since last Sunday.

If you haven't done a water change since last sunday and you have a 0ppm reading of nitrate today, a week later, it is safe to say that your tank hasn't cycled yet. In fact, looking at your 0ppm readings on ammonia and nitrite i'd safely wager that your tank hasn't even started to cycle! It's probably due to the fact that you've only got two tiny fish in a huge overall volume of water, relatively speaking. There just isn't enough waste being produced to create enough ammonia to kickstart the cycle.

 

[Coryloach]

Your tank is definitely not cycled in that case. Keep monitoring the ammonia and nitrites. Nitrates at this stage are irrelevant. Water changes are your best friend if you want these 2 same fish to be "living their best life" for some years to come.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Is this your only tank? I ask because if you have another already established tank the business of getting a tank cycled can be much simpler.

Here is a prediction. The tank is large and the fish currently are small. The aro will grow big fairly quickly. The twice a day feedings will leave a lot of uneaten food bits that will decay over time. At some point before long the metabolic byproducts from the fish metabolism coupled with the byproducts from decay of other organics will catch up with the fairly large volume of water and you will see first ammonia when the water is tested.
Ammonia will be first and it can take several weeks for enough of the first type of bb to populate the tank. The first bb convert the ammonia into nitrites. After the nitrites begin to show up a second type of bb will eventually populate the tank. These are the ones that convert nitrites into the very much less toxic nitrates.
It appears you are doing what is called a "fish in cycle". The bit unusual part is that you are doing a fish in cycle with a fish such as an aro. A fish in cycle is hard on the first fish you place in the tank. They are exposed to some levels of toxic ammonia and the toxic nitrites while the "cycle" works itself out over up to six or more weeks.

 

[tarheel96]

I promise you - you're not getting a nitrate reading because you're not beating the heck out of solution #2. I've seen this time and time again. You have to grab nitrate solution #2 by the cap and bang the bottom edges against a hard surface while shaking like mad for several minutes (2 minimum).
Add 10 drops to the test tube. Shake the test tube vigorously for 60 seconds.
Wait 5 minutes for the color to develop.
After you've mixed up nitrate solution #2 once, you don't need to shake it like mad each time. However, if it sits a while then you have to do the same thing again.

No other bottle in the API test kit needs to be shaken. Only Nitrate solution #2.

 

[duanes]

It usually takes a good two to three months before a tank of that size is fully cycled starting from scratch, so I agree with the others saying yours is not yet cycled.
I also agree there is no way to tell how frequent, and how much water you need to change. I let nitrate tests be a guide for me, and find to keep my goal of 5ppm nitrate on a 300 gallon bank of tanks, with my fish, i needed 30 to 40% water changes every other day.
I also agree rinsing media on some water change water is the way to go, I never tossed mine until it was falling apart.
And normal forms of filtration do nothing to alter nitrate, only water changes, and plant uptake.

 

[Drstrangelove]

My stock for right now is a 3 inch Silver aro and a 3 inch Ornate bichir.

This isn't enough of a bio load in a 210 to create any measurable nitrate readings using standard (OTC) tests. (Professional tests would likely detect some nitrogen components.) I estimate you would need 2 months with that stock to reach 5 ppm of nitrates assuming you never changed the water.

This is why your other readings are zero or close to zero. While there might be some BB of all types in the tank, it's not measurable.

This is fine if these are the only fish you plan to keep in the tank. As they grow in size, the BB population will grow and will keep up and your tests will gradually show some readings.

However, if you were to suddenly add more fish, especially if they were larger fish than these, the tank bio load would be out out balance, and you'd experience a mini cycle. If that's your intention, you'll want to add BB to the tank prior to that (a used filter has been mentioned and is a great option.)

 

[tarheel96]

I been doing them weekly about 25-35% water change but I am wondering if I can do them biweekly or twice a month instead of every week.

To answer your question about water changes. Large water changes performed less frequently remove far more toxins than smaller water changes performed more frequently.

Assume a weekly nitrate accumulation of 20 ppm for each example below.

A 25% weekly WC results in 60 ppm nitrate after each WC, 80 ppm before each WC, 70 ppm average.
A 50% weekly WC results in 20 ppm nitrate after each WC, 40 ppm before each WC, 30 ppm average.

A 50% WC every 2 weeks results in 40 ppm nitrate after each WC, 80 ppm before each WC, 60 ppm average.
A 75% WC every 2 weeks results in 13 ppm nitrate after each WC, 53 ppm before each WC, 33 ppm average.

Note that 50% every 2 weeks beats out 25% once a week.

https://www.hamzasreef.com/Contents/Calculators/EffectOfWaterChanges.php