I would add some pure ammonia. The ACE Hardware brand works great.
That is why you are getting 0 readings. Take out the ammonia absorber and you'll begin to see the readings change.reg said:I did use a carbon/ammonia absorber mix in one of my filters. I have 8 small fish in the tank for a week and all my levels ammonia nitrate and nitrite are 0.
Hi Reg. 40 is probably a little on the high side of "normal" for an established tank. Some people try to keep their Nitrate under 20. Other people have 20ppm of nitrate in their tapwater so their's is by necesity higher.reg said:Thank you so much for your help.I did not begin to test the water until the tank had been set up for a week with fish in it. The water was a little cloudy the first few days and now it is really clear. Does cloudy water have any correlation with cycling stages? I read somewhere (maybe in my water testing kit?) that 40 is an acceptable number for nitrates and when nitrates were present at this level it was a sure thing that your tank had cycled. Is this incorrect? What are the nitrate levels on a well established tank? I did add about 100 lbs of the cichlid sand that was packed in bacteria rich water and also added a bacteria product purchased at the pet store. Thanks again.