New Test Kit, New Test, New Results!

[Blubble37]

Before water change the levels were...

P/H-8.5
Ammonia-1ppm
Nitrite-5ppm
Nitrate-100ppm
(Anything wrong with those)


After

P/H-7.5
Ammonia-1ppm
Nitrite-2.5ppm
Nitrate-25ppm

This is my indoor tank, which may be just slightly overstocked with fish but...

 

[marieukxx]

Yeah amonia and nitrite should be 0ppm.

 

[The chilly dipper]

Before water change the levels were...

P/H-8.5
Ammonia-1ppm
Nitrite-5ppm
Nitrate-100ppm
(Anything wrong with those)


After

P/H-7.5
Ammonia-1ppm
Nitrite-2.5ppm
Nitrate-25ppm

This is my indoor tank, which may be just slightly overstocked with fish but...

your ammonia and nitrite should be 0-0.

how much water do you change and also if you are over stocked your readings will never go down completly.

1 inch of fish to 1 gallon is the usual rule of thumb

 

[TwoTankAmin]

1 inch of fish to 1 gallon is the usual rule of thumb

This is an urban myth. The only sort of fish it to which it would even remotely apply are fish like neon or cardinal tetras or zebra danios ie small slender fish. Otherwise one could appropriately house a 10 inch oscar in a 10 gallon tank.

Also what is causing the pH to vary by one full point due to a water change??

 

[The chilly dipper]

1 inch of fish to 1 gallon is the usual rule of thumb

This is an urban myth. The only sort of fish it to which it would even remotely apply are fish like neon or cardinal tetras or zebra danios ie small slender fish. Otherwise one could appropriately house a 10 inch oscar in a 10 gallon tank.

Also what is causing the pH to vary by one full point due to a water change??

it was quoted to me during my trouble with somegoldfish id been having,i dont know myself of other stocking guidlines.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Stocking guidelines are different for different species of fish. Goldfish I've read 20-30 gallons for the first one and 10 gallons more for each additional. Larger and messier fish need more space to swim obviously, and also need more space because of the mess they make - also they need larger filtration that would be standard for the smaller tetras, livebearers, etc. Cichlids are a whole different ball of wax. At times they actually recommend overcrowding certain cichlids to help keep a lid on the aggression. I have no interest in keeping such a tank, so I haven't read further than that on the subject.


Personally, I plan to stick to the "smaller, slender" fish, so the 1 inch per gallon works for me.

 

[Blubble37]

1 inch of fish to 1 gallon is the usual rule of thumb

This is an urban myth. The only sort of fish it to which it would even remotely apply are fish like neon or cardinal tetras or zebra danios ie small slender fish. Otherwise one could appropriately house a 10 inch oscar in a 10 gallon tank.

Also what is causing the pH to vary by one full point due to a water change??

it's cause i have a lot of plant material breaking down and producing alkali ad also i do 90% water changes every time to keep all my levels down. i tested again this morning and it was already at 7.6

 

[TwoTankAmin]

To my knowledge the breakdown of plant material in water does not produce alkali.

Did you mean alkaline as in pH above neutral?

Even if so, they breakdown of plants will produce nitrogenous waste and contribute to TDS levels but should not have a direct impact on pH levels.In temrs of it creating nitrogenous waste, that would contribute to a lowering of pH over time if regular water changes are not done. How much of a change would be a function of your KH and the higher it is the more rresitant your water is to pH changes.