"Richard Sexton" wrote in message
...
I repeat, there is no ammonia or nitrite in my tanks.

If that were actually true, you would have no algae at all.

I still get a reading of zero on both. I would have sick and dying
goldfish, platy's, ottos and plecos if I had measurable amounts of ammonia
and or nitrites in my tanks. I haven't lost even one little otto. All are
thriving and visibly growing, especially the plecos.

What
food do you suppose that algae grows on?

I will assume it grabs the ammonia before it's converted or immediatly after
since I get a zero on Ammonia and nitrite both. Nitrate stays around 20 ppm
(no matter how many plants I've added) so I assume the plants and whatever
algae are in these tanks are keeping the ammonia down to zero. However I
can't stop them from producing ammonia.

My water is very hard
and very alkaline. The store waters are soft and around neutral if not
slightly acid.

Same here. I just dump them in. No losses.

No thanks. I'll take the safe route I've been taking and acclimate them for
a zero death rate. I have to go by my own experiences.
--
Koi-Lo.... frugal ponding since 1995...
Aquariums since 1952
My Pond & Aquarium Pages:
http://tinyurl.com/9do58
Note: There are two Koi-Lo's on the Aquaria groups.
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