Api Master Test Kit First Results - Bad?

[thrust]

u believe who u want all i no from experience is the nitrate are harmful and stressful to fish iv had my tank for 1 year all my levels are at 0 ppm and i have never had a fish die on me yet (touch wood) there are sooooo many people in here that have there own ideas and aggendas so u find your own that works for you and stick to it good luck

if your nitrate is a 0 somthin is wrong, i have been fish keeping for only 8 months and i know this

 

[Truck]

u believe who u want all i no from experience is the nitrate are harmful and stressful to fish iv had my tank for 1 year all my levels are at 0 ppm and i have never had a fish die on me yet (touch wood) there are sooooo many people in here that have there own ideas and aggendas so u find your own that works for you and stick to it good luck

are you getting confused with nitrite? No2? which is toxic, and it best at levels of 0, elevated levels can cause negative effects on the haemoglobin and can lead to the production of methomoglobin.

 

[fatheadminnow]

i ya mate

ur nitrate levels are way to high and this would cause major stress to ur fish if left i would advise to do 50% water change leave for and hour then test again and ur ph is too high aswell, u need to do 50% water changes daily ti bring the nitrate down. nitrate and ammonia should be 0 ppm

newtothis

trust me mate do the daily water changes they will come down after time and your ph would follow suit try a little aquarium salt this sometimes establishes ph balance but keep at it and u will see the results for yourself dont listen to a fool like him everyone nows nitrate is harmfull to fish goggle it and see for yourself mate

Sorry, but your are completely wrong about your pH and Nitrate!

Different fish will tolerate a different pH level, and all fish can adapt to a very wide range of pH levels. Not knowing what kind of fish the OP has means you cannot possibly know what pH levels are desired. My pH levels in my tanks are around 8.0 and a little higher...why...because I keep Cichlids which desire a higher pH.

Also, the Autotrophic Bacteria that colonize in our filters that process Ammonia and Nitrate (the Nitrogen cycle) colonize beset at a pH of 8.4.

Also, the info about your nitrate is way off. Science has proven, like truck has said, that fish can safely tolerate levels of 400 ppm of nitrate.

Also, I have no idea why you said that nitrates will have a negative effect on plants, when actually plants use nitrates as a source (Macro fert) of nutrients. I even add Potassium Nitrate to my tank, to give even more nitrates to my plants. This is called a Macro fertilizer. There are other ones as well that you can learn about in the planted section on this forum.

To the OP:

Your pH and Nitrate levels are perfectly fine!

-FHM

 

[J4G3D]

u believe who u want all i no from experience is the nitrate are harmful and stressful to fish iv had my tank for 1 year all my levels are at 0 ppm and i have never had a fish die on me yet (touch wood) there are sooooo many people in here that have there own ideas and aggendas so u find your own that works for you and stick to it good luck

are you getting confused with nitrite? No2? which is toxic, and it best at levels of 0, elevated levels can cause negative effects on the haemoglobin and can lead to the production of methomoglobin.

I think your might be right there....
confusion over nitrate and nitrite.

 

[fatheadminnow]

Yeah, that would make sense. Nitrite is toxic to fish if at any readable level (usually over .25 ppm) and can/will cause permanent nerve and brain damage to the fish, and can kill the fish if that fish is exposed to higher than safe levels of nitrite.

A safe level of Nitrate is 0 ppm; same goes for Ammonia.

-FHM

 

[Assaye]

i have so far only kept an eye on ph levels in an established tank,tonight i gave in and got a master test kit
these are my readings can anybody tell me if they are good enough or if i need to be doing more water changes

ph 8.0
ammonia, 0ppm - 0.25ppm (nearer 0ppm)
nitrite 0ppm
nitrate 40ppm

I'd double check the ammonia again. API can be hard to read but tbh, if you are in doubt, there is probably a trace in there. Make sure you leave the test to develop for at least 5 mins and double check the colour by looking up through the bottom of the test tube. It should be a very clear, bright yellow.

If it is up a bit, just do a water change to dilute it down. Might also be helpful to post again if it is up and tell us tank size, filtration, maintainence routine and stocking levels.

With the nitrates - don't worry. The lower the better, but even very high levels are safe for all but them most sensitive of fish. 40 ppm is nothing to worry about and tbh, the jury is still out about the toxicity of nitrates.

 

[cybergibbons]

trust me mate do the daily water changes they will come down after time and your ph would follow suit try a little aquarium salt this sometimes establishes ph balance but keep at it and u will see the results for yourself dont listen to a fool like him everyone nows nitrate is harmfull to fish goggle it and see for yourself mate

Just google for "toxicity of ammonia nitrite nitrate tropical fish" and look through a selection of the scientific papers.

 

[Thecloud]

Thanks for the advice You can see why I was a little confused with different sites saying different things. I will stick to my usual weekly 20-30% water changes and my P.H is fine at that level I have no fish who require a low PH and I want a hard water slightly high PH tank as that helps my crayfish I just wasnt sure about the toxicity levels, and tbh I was worried that I was getting readings of 0ppm I thought somthing could be wrong, but obv not it seems a good thing.

How often do you guys test your water? should you do it before doing a water change as I presume stiring up the gravel with a vac causing excess muck/bacteria to fly around the tank could effect the results for a few hours?

Thanks for all your help!

 

[fatheadminnow]

I don't test my water anymore unless I notice something is wrong in my tank. After about 6 months, a tank should be fairly well established to the point where the water parameters should always remain where they should be (ammonia and nitrite = 0 ppm).

-FHM