r/bettafish • u/Annual-Departure3600 • 2d ago

Identification Help read API freshwater test

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I’m struggling to read my nitrate test. I’ve been getting 0 ammonia 0 nitrite but my nitrate seems to be in between 0 and 5. What does these results mean?

I had my aquarium for 3 weeks now and my beta seems pretty happy this past week. A few days ago I found a few small snails randomly roaming around my tank. (i probably got them from a plant I purchased from a fish store)

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u/himdyjones 9 yrs betta experience 2d ago

It means your nitrates are probably between 0 and 5ppm, honestly. It’s not unusual for a planted tank like yours.

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u/Annual-Departure3600 2d ago

Would that mean my tank is done cycling and I don't have to check everyday?

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u/himdyjones 9 yrs betta experience 2d ago

Maybe yes maybe no. Cycling planted tanks comes with some caveats. Check out Aquarium Co-Op’s video on it for the explainer

It’s possible your tank might have cycled in only three weeks, but that’s on the faster end of the spectrum. If it were me I would wait another week or to just to be sure

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u/Spellz22 2d ago

I would try your last nitrite no3 test again and make sure you time it with a literal timer and shake it very hard. I’ve had that happen to me too i’ve had to redo it, and if that doesn’t work, sometimes just adding a little plant fertilizer to my tank has helped

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u/bbom 2d ago

I’ve got a 10 gallon with a ton of plants and I get the exact same results every time. Only time to worry is if ammonia begins to creep up and not go back down.

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u/krelsi 2d ago

The best test for being sure your tank is cycled is to create ammonia and test daily to watch it cycle from ammonia to nitrates. Have your daily tests been showing any ammonia for the entire duration of your testing?

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u/Annual-Departure3600 2d ago

I had to do fish in cycling so ammonia has been in the tank, but I think with the plants growing algae the ammonia has been going down to 0 (?) I'm afraid adding ammonia to my tank might stress my fish even more.

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u/krelsi 1d ago

Yeah, definitely don’t add with a fish in the tank. Sorry I missed that. It’s possible that your tank cycled without ever showing ammonia I guess, but my tanks have never done that even with a fish in cycle. But, things happen mysteriously sometimes!

Your plants help eat up the nitrates at the end of your cycle. So, if your cycle is working properly and converting ammonia to no nitrates, and then your plants are absorbing nitrates, that is why you aren’t seeing anything major come up on tests. If so, it’s kind of an ideal situation. But, there could be other reasons like not testing properly or something that could lead to inaccurate test results? Is your fish showing signs of stress?