Cylcling/NItrate/Fish Adding Question...

When I started this hobby and researched the 'cycle' phenomena,
I had read that Ammonia and Nitrites are not good for fish life,
but nitrates- if ramped up slowly, WERE tolerated by fish
at levels as high as 80!

Now this ? is not for MY DT or system currently,
but why is it that people always recommend to newbies that all thre should be at 0 before introducing fish?

Can a new fish not tolerate low levels of Nitrate, when the ammonia and nitrites have cycled to 0?

 

Probably because I use API tests but pretty sure mine always have run between 5 and 10ppm depending on when I do the water changes(fish always seem fine to me).

Am in cycle period of my 135 and was 180ppm so holding out putting fish in ha ha.

Guess some point I should break down and get a Hanna.

 

Bare with me. A human can live 3 days without water( for example sake) Is it ideal? No.

Guess this is where this notion comes from, keep water conditions as less stressful as possible

 

FWIW, I usually don't say the nitrates need to be at 0 for a FOWLR. In my old FO, my nitrates were very high and I had many healthy fish. However, as Swiss says, when starting up a tank, I think it is the best advice to have noobies shoot for solid parameters to eliminate as much stress as possible for fish.

 

I see most say ammonia and nitrites need to be 0, and nitrates ~10 (as high as 20 is still fine).

 

Thanks for the replies all!

As far as the human/water thing goes- when we have water- we can live at nearly a month or more with no food- again, certainly not ideal.

I'm getting on Marshall's bus. I think like he says that if the first 2 are 0, nitrates are OK and will probably come down even more- OK to add fish at that point.

I just try not to give advice on this subject to nebs on the first cycle b/c usually the standard answer is all 3 at 0 first. When a newb posts 0,0, and 5 and people nearly always post saying to wait till 0,0,0.

?

 

I think chasing 0 nitrates in a new setup could be very frustrating.