Hey folks, this is my 90l planted tank, the middle tube is my nitrates today, pretty much zero. The other two are from my other two larger planted tanks.
Should I be worried that this tank is always zero? I’ve had the tank up and running for 5 months, it was cycled using GOOP into the in let and the hard scape sand was seated from a sponge in my fx4 from my larger tank.
The shocking is low (honeys, harlequin rasporas, c.125 corys and some baby molleys / rams which I’m growing out).
Ammonia always zero, nitrite always zero and nitrate always around zero.
TDS is 157 and GH (6 drops) and KH (2 drops) are within the normal range.
I’ve read a few comments which say this isn’t possible and your tank isn’t cycled?
Fish all seem happy and the plant growth is pretty strong.
Posted by Scottish_Aquascape
5 Comments
No, you shouldn’t be worried. If ammonia and nitrite are consistently 0 in a stocked tank then it is cycled, regardless of the nitrate levels. So 0 nitrates is absolutely nothing to worry about unless your plant growth is stunted, in which case you can deliberately bump the levels up with fertilizer.
Nothing to worry about looking at your plant mass and stocking 🙂 each tank behaves different and this one is gorgeous.
My nitrates sit between 0-5, and I fertilise 3 X a week plus root tabs. Stock is 8 kuhli, a betta, shrimp (lots) and MTS in a 30g heavily planted. If I don’t fertilise nitrate is 0.
Hopefully that reassures. Light stocking, loads of plants and it’s great – your tank is absolutely stunning. Need to say it again.
No harm in checking. The stock is light and the hungry plants are keeping up. It’s great.
Plants will suck nitrate out of the water, and it looks like you have a jungle in there, so it’s normal. You might notice plants starting to die back if they aren’t getting enough nitrogen, so you could add fertilizer to help them. 0 nitrate is not a problem at all if you know what you’re doing.
It’s totally fine. Your tank is just very balanced. I get so irritated when people say “no nitrates, no cycle” in these heavily planted tanks.