My Water Test

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Vinno87

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Good afternoon,

I'm new to this forum and very new to keeping tropical fish.

I would like someone with more knowledge than me to check the pictures of my water test and see if it is all ok please.

any help will be much appreciated :)

IMG-20180408-WA0010.jpg IMG-20180408-WA0011.jpg IMG-20180408-WA0012.jpg IMG-20180408-WA0013.jpg
 
They look alright but NO3 (nitrate) looks like it has a very pale pink, but that is nothing to worry about.

How long has the tank been set up for?

Not sure what chemical you are using for pH but I prefer Bromothymol Blue for testing the pH.

When reading the water tests, put the phial on a white part of the colour chart/ card, then look down from above.
 
They look alright but NO3 (nitrate) looks like it has a very pale pink, but that is nothing to worry about.

How long has the tank been set up for?

Not sure what chemical you are using for pH but I prefer Bromothymol Blue for testing the pH.

When reading the water tests, put the phial on a white part of the colour chart/ card, then look down from above.
hello thank you for your reply

I've had the tank set up for just over 2 weeks running with the filter and air flowing and I put a couple of fish in it yesterday did a test this morning and it was like this is this right? sorry very new to this been researching all I can
 
Hi and :hi:.
Have you read this thread http://www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/421488-cycling-your-new-fresh-water-tank-read-this-first
It will explain why we test and how the nitrogen cycle works. Your readings for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate look fine right now but that does not neccessarily mean its "safe" to add fish. (And if you have had fish in for at least a few weeks good job).

If you want advice on what fish to keep post the missing readings (GH and KH) and tank size.
hello thanks for replying

ill give that link a read for sure :) I've had it running for just over 2 weeks with nothing in it and put a couple of fish in it yesterday wasn't sure if it was a false reading im very new to all this and need to learn as much as I can
 
You will be doing a fish in cycle. This simply means there are fish in the tank while the filters develop the beneficial bacteria needed to keep the water clean.

Because of the fish in cycle you should only feed the fish a very small amount every second day. Don't worry, they won't starve. Fish do not need to eat to keep warm so any food they consume is simply used to move and grow. The less food going into the tank, the lower the ammonia readings will be (in the next few weeks) and the less stress the fish will be under while there is ammonia in the water.

Do a 50% water change every second day, and do it daily if the ammonia reading goes above 0.2.
If the ammonia reading goes above 0.5 then do a 75% water change each day.

Make sure any new water going into the tank is clean and free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank. The easiest way to do this is to get a clean bucket that has never been used for chemicals or soaps and write "FISH ONLY" on it with a permanent marker. Use that bucket for the fish and nothing else. The day before you do a water change, fill the bucket with tap water, add the required amount of dechlorinator or a little bit more, (you can double dose dechlorinator and it won't hurt the fish), and then aerate until you use it. If you don't have an air pump and airstone then just stir the bucket of water up several times during the next few hours so the dechlorinator can come in contact with all the chlorine/ chloramine in the water.

Monitor the ammonia (NH3) and nitrite (NO2) levels for the next few weeks. Then monitor the nitrate (NO3) as well. When the ammonia levels go up and come down to 0, the nitrite levels will start to go up. When the nitrite goes up and comes down to 0, you start getting nitrates. Once that has happened you can add more fish and increase the feeding to once a day.
*NB* nitrate test kits will read nitrite too so if you have a nitrite reading, don't bother testing for nitrates unless we ask you to.

Make sure you don't have any perfume, deodorant, oil, grease or perfumed soap on your hands when working in the tank.
 
Last edited:
You'll find people using the word cycling about new tanks. This is the process of growing bacteria in the tank, and the word comes from the nitrogen cycle.
These bacteria eat ammonia excreted by the fish, and they take quite a while to grow in enough numbers for a tankful of fish. They grow when they have food, so there are two ways to get them to grow. The first is fishless cycling, which involves adding ammonia from a bottle to simulate fish waste; this grows all the bacteria needed before fish are put in the tank. The second way is fish-in cycling which uses fish to excrete ammonia to feed the bacteria and get them to grow. You are doing a fish-in cycle because just letting the tank run for 2 weeks did nothing besides testing the equipment.
The link that seangee gave you is for fishless cycling, but the first part explains what cycling is in more detail, whichever method is used.

You have two choices -
Take the fish back to the shop and do a fishless cycle following the instructions in seangee's link.
Continue with a fish-in cycle. You don't mention how big the tank is but unless it is very small, cycling with just 2 fish is doable. You need to test the water every day and do a water change every time you see ammonia and/or nitrite (the one with two i's) above zero. What usually happens is that ammonia rises first because there are virtually no bacteria to eat it. The very tiny number in the water supply start to multiply - very slowly - and they turn the ammonia into nitrite. Because there are so few bacteria at the start it will be a while before they make any impact on the ammonia the fish are making, and nitrite won't appear in any significant amount for several days. Then ammonia will rise more slowly but nitrite will shoot up as there are very few nitrite eating bacteria - they can only start growing once the ammonia eaters have made some nitrite. Eventually after several weeks, you'll notice that ammonia and nitrite stay at zero and that is when the tank is cycled. But it is only cycled for those two fish. When you add more, they will increase the amount of ammonia being excreted and the bacteria will have to grow some more. You will need to add more fish slowly in small batches.
You can help keep ammonia under control by putting live plants in the tank, particularly floating plants. Plants use ammonia as fertiliser so they will take up a lot of the ammonia made by the fish - and plants don't turn it into nitrite so that is kept lower by plants as well.



While you are testing and water changing until the tank is cycled, can you tell us about your tank - how big is it? What fish have you got? We can then discuss any plans you already have for future fish.
 
You will be doing a fish in cycle. This simply means there are fish in the tank while the filters develop the beneficial bacteria needed to keep the water clean.

Because of the fish in cycle you should only feed the fish a very small amount every second day. Don't worry, they won't starve. Fish do not need to eat to keep warm so any food they consume is simply used to move and grow. The less food going into the tank, the lower the ammonia readings will be (in the next few weeks) and the less stress the fish will be under while there is ammonia in the water.

Do a 50% water change every second day, and do it daily if the ammonia reading goes above 0.2.
If the ammonia reading goes above 0.5 then do a 75% water change each day.

Make sure any new water going into the tank is clean and free of chlorine/ chloramine before it is added to the tank. The easiest way to do this is to get a clean bucket that has never been used for chemicals or soaps and write "FISH ONLY" on it with a permanent marker. Use that bucket for the fish and nothing else. The day before you do a water change, fill the bucket with tap water, add the required amount of dechlorinator or a little bit more, (you can double dose dechlorinator and it won't hurt the fish), and then aerate until you use it. If you don't have an air pump and airstone then just stir the bucket of water up several times during the next few hours so the dechlorinator can come in contact with all the chlorine/ chloramine in the water.

Monitor the ammonia (NH4) and nitrite (NO2) levels for the next few weeks. Then monitor the nitrate (NO3) as well. When the ammonia levels go up and come down to 0, the nitrite levels will start to go up. When the nitrite goes up and comes down to 0, you start getting nitrates. Once that has happened you can add more fish and increase the feeding to once a day.
*NB* nitrate test kits will read nitrite too so if you have a nitrite reading, don't bother testing for nitrates unless we ask you to.

Make sure you don't have any perfume, deodorant, oil, grease or perfumed soap on your hands when working in the tank.
thanks for that great advice I will save this on my phone to refer back to if needed so at the min my water is fine? ill do a 50% water change tomorrow and every other day ill feed the fish once I've done a water change tomorrow and go from there is this right
 
You'll find people using the word cycling about new tanks. This is the process of growing bacteria in the tank, and the word comes from the nitrogen cycle.
These bacteria eat ammonia excreted by the fish, and they take quite a while to grow in enough numbers for a tankful of fish. They grow when they have food, so there are two ways to get them to grow. The first is fishless cycling, which involves adding ammonia from a bottle to simulate fish waste; this grows all the bacteria needed before fish are put in the tank. The second way is fish-in cycling which uses fish to excrete ammonia to feed the bacteria and get them to grow. You are doing a fish-in cycle because just letting the tank run for 2 weeks did nothing besides testing the equipment.
The link that seangee gave you is for fishless cycling, but the first part explains what cycling is in more detail, whichever method is used.

You have two choices -
Take the fish back to the shop and do a fishless cycle following the instructions in seangee's link.
Continue with a fish-in cycle. You don't mention how big the tank is but unless it is very small, cycling with just 2 fish is doable. You need to test the water every day and do a water change every time you see ammonia and/or nitrite (the one with two i's) above zero. What usually happens is that ammonia rises first because there are virtually no bacteria to eat it. The very tiny number in the water supply start to multiply - very slowly - and they turn the ammonia into nitrite. Because there are so few bacteria at the start it will be a while before they make any impact on the ammonia the fish are making, and nitrite won't appear in any significant amount for several days. Then ammonia will rise more slowly but nitrite will shoot up as there are very few nitrite eating bacteria - they can only start growing once the ammonia eaters have made some nitrite. Eventually after several weeks, you'll notice that ammonia and nitrite stay at zero and that is when the tank is cycled. But it is only cycled for those two fish. When you add more, they will increase the amount of ammonia being excreted and the bacteria will have to grow some more. You will need to add more fish slowly in small batches.
You can help keep ammonia under control by putting live plants in the tank, particularly floating plants. Plants use ammonia as fertiliser so they will take up a lot of the ammonia made by the fish - and plants don't turn it into nitrite so that is kept lower by plants as well.



While you are testing and water changing until the tank is cycled, can you tell us about your tank - how big is it? What fish have you got? We can then discuss any plans you already have for future fish.

hello thanks for your response,

I have got a small one I think ;) 40 litre from pets at home didn't want anything bigger due to not having any experience plus I presume its hard the bigger you get. I have 2 green tiger barbs in there what do you suggest? any help is much appreciated
 
yes your water is fine currently.

With feeding, feed in the morning or during the day, about an hour or more after the tank lights go on. This gives the fish a chance to wake up before eating. Only feed them a little bit of food and watch them eat. Any food that has not been eaten within a couple of minutes should be removed from the water with a net, or siphon hose/ gravel cleaner.
If you don't have a gravel cleaner get yourself one like the gravel cleaner in the following link. You use it to drain water out of the tank and remove gunk/ food from the gravel substrate.
http://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

Wait 3 or 4 hours after feeding and then do a water change. This will allow the fish to digest the food and the water change will dilute any ammonia produced from the feeding. If you can't water change 3 or 4 hours after feeding don't worry, you can water change anytime but it is preferable to do it at between 3 & 12 hours after feeding. So if you feed in the morning you can water change in the evening or vice versa (feed at night and water change in morning).

-----------------------
re: lighting. In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on. Wait 30-60minutes (or longer) before turning the tank lights on.
At night turn the room light on, then turn the tank light off. Wait 30minutes or longer before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to wake up slowly and settle down for the night, rather than going from complete light to dark and vice versa.
 
The important tests at the moment are ammonia and nitrite. You should see no trace of green in the ammonia test and no trace of pink in the nitrite tests. If you do, as essjay says, its time to change the water. How often you need to do this will depend on how big your tank is and what fish you have.

I'll also echo what te others have said, feeding too little is much better tha feeding too much - your fish won't starve, and also get some plants in there.
 
yes your water is fine currently.

With feeding, feed in the morning or during the day, about an hour or more after the tank lights go on. This gives the fish a chance to wake up before eating. Only feed them a little bit of food and watch them eat. Any food that has not been eaten within a couple of minutes should be removed from the water with a net, or siphon hose/ gravel cleaner.
If you don't have a gravel cleaner get yourself one like the gravel cleaner in the following link. You use it to drain water out of the tank and remove gunk/ food from the gravel substrate.
http://www.about-goldfish.com/aquarium-cleaning.html

Wait 3 or 4 hours after feeding and then do a water change. This will allow the fish to digest the food and the water change will dilute any ammonia produced from the feeding. If you can't water change 3 or 4 hours after feeding don't worry, you can water change anytime but it is preferable to do it at between 3 & 12 hours after feeding. So if you feed in the morning you can water change in the evening or vice versa (feed at night and water change in morning).

-----------------------
re: lighting. In the morning open the curtains or turn the room light on. Wait 30-60minutes (or longer) before turning the tank lights on.
At night turn the room light on, then turn the tank light off. Wait 30minutes or longer before turning the room light out. This allows the fish to wake up slowly and settle down for the night, rather than going from complete light to dark and vice versa.

Thank you for this advice it is really grateful how long do you suggest I keep doing water changes every couple of days for?
 
The important tests at the moment are ammonia and nitrite. You should see no trace of green in the ammonia test and no trace of pink in the nitrite tests. If you do, as essjay says, its time to change the water. How often you need to do this will depend on how big your tank is and what fish you have.

I'll also echo what te others have said, feeding too little is much better tha feeding too much - your fish won't starve, and also get some plants in there.

thanks

yes I have got 2 live plants in there with a air tube as well im going to do what colin said feed them in the morning then wait 3 hours then do a 50% water change
 
hello thanks for your response,

I have got a small one I think ;) 40 litre from pets at home didn't want anything bigger due to not having any experience plus I presume its hard the bigger you get. I have 2 green tiger barbs in there what do you suggest? any help is much appreciated

Actually believe it or not the bigger the tank the easier it is to keep water conditions stable. I liken it to living in a small apartment as opposed to a big house. A small space is harder to keep clutter free than a big space. Of course changing 50% of the water on a 200ltr is a bigger chore than on a 40ltr but the bigger tank is the more forgiving it is of the mistakes we all make as beginners.

Mistakes like getting 2 tiger barbs for a 40ltr. These are active gregarious fish that should be in schools of 8 or more in a tank that is at least 30gl (114ltrs). If you really like these fish I would get a bigger tank. Or if you want to keep the tank, return the fish for those more appropriate. There are quite a few nice options for a tank that size. And I mean we all make them. My first fish was an Oscar in a tank smaller than yours!!
 
Actually believe it or not the bigger the tank the easier it is to keep water conditions stable. I liken it to living in a small apartment as opposed to a big house. A small space is harder to keep clutter free than a big space. Of course changing 50% of the water on a 200ltr is a bigger chore than on a 40ltr but the bigger tank is the more forgiving it is of the mistakes we all make as beginners.

Mistakes like getting 2 tiger barbs for a 40ltr. These are active gregarious fish that should be in schools of 8 or more in a tank that is at least 30gl (114ltrs). If you really like these fish I would get a bigger tank. Or if you want to keep the tank, return the fish for those more appropriate. There are quite a few nice options for a tank that size. And I mean we all make them. My first fish was an Oscar in a tank smaller than yours!!

thanks for your reply mate

ill be looking at getting a bigger tank in the next few weeks or so I think :)
 

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