0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, 0 nitrate after 2 weeks?

pbradley0

I've had my 40 gal tank with 5 black neon tetras and 2 pepper corys for 2 weeks now. The fish are doing great, very active and eating. I did loose one tetra 2 days after putting them in the tank. I presume this was because the fish was sick to begin with.

My question relates to the fact that I have yet to detect any ammonia, nitrite, or nitrate. I have a canister filter and plenty of external aeration. I also treated the water with chlorine remover. Is there a good explanation for why I haven't seen any ammonia yet?

jones57742

Yes:

Your feeding rate is low enough such that you are not observing any detectable concentrations.

TR

pbradley0

So that's a good thing I presume? Will I still see an ammonia spike? Will adding more fish or feeding more help?

Thanks

leifthebunny

I just recently started a tank and from what I understand, if you don't stress the bio load, it's possible you won't see an ammonia/nitrite spike. I've not seen either on mine yet, but have seen nitrates.

hamdogg08

Would there be a chance that the carbon in the canister filter could just suck out all the ammonia etc. out of the tank right away?

pbradley0

From what I've read activated carbon does not bind ammonia.

Amphitrite

Hi pbradley0. Have you done any water changes in the past couple of weeks, and how often/much have you been feeding?

What sort of test kit are you using, is it liquid or strips?

daisycutter

i found this with one of mine 0 amonia and 0 nitrate i got it but understocking with fish in a well planted tank its all tured to s**t now as ive lost half the plants i dont do the tests my lfs does them free

fish_4_all

You still may see some sort of ammonia in the near future but youmay not. The test type will also help because strips are so unreliable.

If you do add fish, only 1-3 inches of fish and wait to see what the tank does, if you get an ammonia spike then you need to watch your water changes and keep it under control.

musho3210

any zeolite in the filter bag?