Is my tank MAGIC!?!?!?!?!?!?

[grmanrocks]

ok, so today i was like why the hell not, ill test my water on my tanks..... after going thru all of them the water is PERFECT! zero nitrates....even on the tanks i dont really do water changes on.........

heres the break down:

Tank 1: 10 Gallon
Location: Bedroom, indirect sunlight
Stock:
6 neon tetras
4 corydoras(mixed species)
4 HatchetFish
Water change info: 0.5 gallons daily

Tank 2: 2.5 Gallon
Location: Bedroom, Indirect Sunlight
Stock:
1 Unidentified Rasbora
7 Ghost Shrimp
Water change info: a little bit daily, whatever fresh water is left from the 10 gallon

Tank 3: 100 Gallon
Location: Bedroom, Indirect Sunlight
Stock:
10 Silver Dollars
1 Ornate Bichir
1 NGT
1 Red-Tailed Shark
1 Striped Rapheal Catfish
1 African B-Fly
Water change info: 5 gallons daily

Tank 4: 10 Gallon
Location: Liveing Room, no sunlight
Stock:
1 L-200 Pleco
1 Pictus Catfish
3 Peppered Corydoras
1 African Clawed Frog
Water Change info: almost never, about 5 gallons a month

Tank 5: 10 Gallon
Location: Livingroom, no sunlight
Stock:
4 Rosyreds
1 L-14 pleco
Water change info: Almost never, about 3 gallons a month

the water was perfect: 0 nitrites, 0 Ammonia, and 0 nitrates, none of them have plants


Whats the deal, i know its not my liquid test kit cuz i tested the turles water just for kicks and it came out awful...........


whats the deal???? shoulnt there be some prescense of nitrATES in the tanks???

someone explain this to me....please?

 

[JardiniBoy]

Yeah ... it doesn't seem to make sense does it.

My first thought was that it must be the test kit, but then you posted the bit about the turtle tank ... you just can't get around the nitrogen cycle though.

Well ... if you do have some fish tank magic, please send some my way

 

[Thinkone]

Yeah ... it doesn't seem to make sense does it.

My first thought was that it must be the test kit, but then you posted the bit about the turtle tank ... you just can't get around the nitrogen cycle though.

Well ... if you do have some fish tank magic, please send some my way

Mee Too!

 

[RadleyMiller]

Test it again. I have no nitrates but I also have Purigen. Do you have purigen? Do you have sand? Do you stir your gravel?

 

[Aussienative]

ok, so today i was like why the hell not, ill test my water on my tanks..... after going thru all of them the water is PERFECT! zero nitrates....even on the tanks i dont really do water changes on.........

heres the break down:

Tank 1: 10 Gallon
Location: Bedroom, indirect sunlight
Stock:
6 neon tetras
4 corydoras(mixed species)
4 HatchetFish
Water change info: 0.5 gallons daily

Tank 2: 2.5 Gallon
Location: Bedroom, Indirect Sunlight
Stock:
1 Unidentified Rasbora
7 Ghost Shrimp
Water change info: a little bit daily, whatever fresh water is left from the 10 gallon

Tank 3: 100 Gallon
Location: Bedroom, Indirect Sunlight
Stock:
10 Silver Dollars
1 Ornate Bichir
1 NGT
1 Red-Tailed Shark
1 Striped Rapheal Catfish
1 African B-Fly
Water change info: 5 gallons daily

Tank 4: 10 Gallon
Location: Liveing Room, no sunlight
Stock:
1 L-200 Pleco
1 Pictus Catfish
3 Peppered Corydoras
1 African Clawed Frog
Water Change info: almost never, about 5 gallons a month

Tank 5: 10 Gallon
Location: Livingroom, no sunlight
Stock:
4 Rosyreds
1 L-14 pleco
Water change info: Almost never, about 3 gallons a month

the water was perfect: 0 nitrites, 0 Ammonia, and 0 nitrates, none of them have plants


Whats the deal, i know its not my liquid test kit cuz i tested the turles water just for kicks and it came out awful...........


whats the deal???? shoulnt there be some prescense of nitrATES in the tanks???

someone explain this to me....please?

What filters are you running on each tank? How long have the tanks been up and running?

 

[cbfreder]

You need to shake up your Nitrate reagents before using them. Seriously, you can test your tank and get a reading of zero, then shake up your reagents and get a more correct reading.

Brandon

 

[RadleyMiller]

I'm gonna go do that, then I'm going to sleep. I have to get up so I can help everyone with their fish purchases bright and early tommorow.

 

[grmanrocks]

What filters are you running on each tank? How long have the tanks been up and running?

all the tanks but the 100 have been running for 8 months.

the filters are as follows:
Tank 1: 30 gallon topfin HOB

Tank 2: 3 gallon whisper in tank

Tank 3: 2 AC110, soon to adda RENA XP3

Tank 4: 20 gallon biowheel

Tank 5: 10 gallon whisper in tank filter

i use sand in all the tanks in my bedroom, but gravel in all the rest

im gonna try the shaking thing...........

mabe it some sort of algea thing? groin in the filter???? i dun kno, i do use prime.... but that shouldnt have nething to do wit it.......

 

[bmxer4ever]

All 4 of my tanks regularly give me readings of zero ammonia and zero nitrites, only the ph that fluctuates from time to time... I never test for nitrates - don't even have a kit for it! I was always led to believe that it was the nitrites I had to keep an eye on, rather then the nitrates. Have I been misled?

 

[CHOMPERS]

Plants including algae consume nitrates. This is the idea behind refugiums.

Also, anaerobic bacteria consume nitrates. When you gravel vac, if they are at work, the water in your waste bucket will smell like a fart.