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First of all, I just started into fish-keeping about 7 months ago or so. I have a 55g freshwater community tank and a 5g tank for one female betta. My question is about the 5g tank. When I did the wc on Mrs. Betta's tank last Monday, I put on a Whisper Microfilter. I put her back in the tank with the new filter set on the lowest setting, and she seems to be handling it fine. Then I did my water testing yesterday and was a little confused. I know that the tank is in the midst of cycling right now (I've added Stresszyme), but the results don't make sense to me. I got pH 8.0-8.2 (same as usual), ammonia 0ppm, nitrite 0ppm, and nitrate 0ppm. If I look REALLY hard at the ammonia test, I think I might be able to hallucinate a bit of a greenish tint, just barely (but not even up to 0.25ppm). I repeated the ammonia test just to be sure, but I really do think I'm doing the tests right b/c I've done them many times before, and I'm also a Clinical Laboratory Scientist, which means that I do lab testing for a living ..... I tested again today and got the same results. When I did testing on her water before the filter, her ammonia would be up to .25-.50ppm by a week's time, and I'm glad it's lower, but I don't know where it's gone! I have not added anything to the water that would interfere with the tests, and there are no live plants. Everything about her tank is exactly the same as it was, except for the filter. Any ideas?? Thanks!!!!!!! P.S. I use API's Freshwater Master Test Kit, and it's only about 2 or 3 months old.

Was this a brand new filter, by that I mean one that wasn't running on an established tank?

It sounds like to me that the filter is doing it's job. First of all this was an established tank and would have had a bit of beneficial bacteria on the gravel, tank walls, etc., so even if the filter was brand new, it got some seeding from the established tank.

With just a female betta in this tank it has very small bioload so it wouldn't take much for the tank to "cycle."

Jim

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Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody. -- Mark Twain

Sorry, I thought I was supposed to get an email alert when there was a response..... Anyway, what you've said makes sense. She was in this tank about, oh, 1 month or 2 (?) before I added the filter, so yes, there would be some bacteria already there. I have been watching the water levels every day, and they are all 0 still. I'm betting now that it must be cycled and that there just isn't much of a bioload to produce a whole lot of nitrates. I will keep watching it, though, and just plan on doing the wc when I see the nitrates start to rise. I guess I was just shocked that the tank could cycle so quickly! Thanks the help; I feel much better about it now!/:'