Are My Levels Ok?

[goldsangel]

Hi All...I have had an aquarium for about a year now, and wanted to get feedback on whether or not my levels are ok...I still consider myself a beginner.

I have a 10 gallon glass aquarium, with 5 fancy guppies, one mystery snail, an African Dwarf frog, and yesterday, I added 3 red platys.

I tested my levels today and they are: PH is 7.5 to 8 (couldn't really tell which), NH3 + NH4 = 0, NO2 < 0.3 mg/L, GH = 12 and KH = 3.

Are these levels ok? I need to know if I'm doing ok, because I would like to get a larger aquarium, but don't want to do so until I'm sure I'm doing ok.
Thanks for your help.

 

[smmetz]

Nitrite (NO2) should be 0, but it is probably just in a little spike since you added 3 fish recently.

I don't know how you got your Nitrate (NO3) to 0, unless you have a heavily planted tank. I always seem to have some nitrate in my tanks. 0 is good, just not sure how you got it that low.

I dont know much about GH and KH, but both of those numbers seem pretty normal to me, from browsing various fish profiles.

 

[goldsangel]

Nitrite (NO2) should be 0, but it is probably just in a little spike since you added 3 fish recently.

I don't know how you got your Nitrate (NO3) to 0, unless you have a heavily planted tank. I always seem to have some nitrate in my tanks. 0 is good, just not sure how you got it that low.

I dont know much about GH and KH, but both of those numbers seem pretty normal to me, from browsing various fish profiles.

I didn't test for Nitrate (NO3)...am I supposed to? I don't believe that is in my water testing kit. I don't have any living plants in my tank, but have started reading up on it, as I would like to. Guppy count is actually 4, not 5, a typo.

I just today purchased my 3rd heater...the other two, after a while, kept increasing the temp, once even to 86 degrees, I almost had a fit as I thought they would all croak.

I am thinking of purchasing a Marineland Penguin Bio-wheel to replace my Top Fin, non-bio-wheel filter. Will this be better?

 

[smmetz]

Sorry, I thougth your first post read NO3 + NH4 = 0, but it was NH3 + NH4 = 0.

It would not be a bad idea to get amonia and nitrate test kits. However, in general, nitrate levels will not be high enough to harm the fish as long as you do regular partial water changes. However, seeing the nitrates rise over time between water changes is a nice way to verify that the nitrogen cycle is working. (amonia -> nitrite -> nitrate)

Idealy, there should never be amonia and nitrite in the water. However, as I mentioned, it is not unusual to have some of them when you add new fish. Just try to keep that nitrite under .25 or so (with water changes). Soon it will drop on its own then.

 

[goldsangel]

Sorry, I thougth your first post read NO3 + NH4 = 0, but it was NH3 + NH4 = 0.

It would not be a bad idea to get amonia and nitrate test kits. However, in general, nitrate levels will not be high enough to harm the fish as long as you do regular partial water changes. However, seeing the nitrates rise over time between water changes is a nice way to verify that the nitrogen cycle is working. (amonia -> nitrite -> nitrate)

Idealy, there should never be amonia and nitrite in the water. However, as I mentioned, it is not unusual to have some of them when you add new fish. Just try to keep that nitrite under .25 or so (with water changes). Soon it will drop on its own then.

Please pardon my ignorance, but isn't the NH3 + NH4 test testing the ammonia level? If not, what is it testing for? So, is it, ammonia not good, nitrIte not good, but nitrAte = very bad?

And yes, I will purchase a nitrate test kit. Also, on different sites I have read different things re: water changes. Some say every other day, some say twice a week, some say weekly...what do you all do?

 

[Griz]

NH3 is ammonia. NH4 is ammonium. Both should be zero.

In your situation I should think that a weekly water change of about 1/3 should be adequate. Whenever you do your change, always try to siphon of the bottom with a siphon hose or gravel vac to get up as much of the crud as possible. Do a water change and retest your Nitrite (NO2) As stated earlier it should be zero however a healthy filter should sort this out on it's own. Water changes will help. A reading of <0.3 isn't terribly dangerous but you should keep an eye on it and work to get it to zero.