Tessla
Fish Crazy
Hi everyone,
I have an API freshwater master test kit that has been working great for me (pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.) However, when I went to test my tanks yesterday, nitrate read zero on all of them.
I've never seen this happen before, especially not a week after the last water change, wondering if my test solutions have gone off or if something in the tap water could be interfering with the test? I keep around some of Mardel's 5 in 1 dip tests as a backup/quick ballpark estimate and the nitrate readings ranged from about 20-80ppm accross my tanks. The tanks are all fairly heavily planted and I've been seeing a lot of growth in the anacharis and java fern in the past week, though I'm pretty sure they should'nt be making up for all the waste produced by my kissing gourami and clown loaches in the 22 gallon. I've had the API test kit for 6 months tops though it may have been sitting on the shelf in the store for a while before that, no expiration date on the bottles unfortunately.
Any ideas what could possibly be going wrong? I'm worried that if something in the tap water is changing my nitrate results, it may also be harmful to the fish. My water is very hard and some areas in the city have fairly high nitrate readings though I haven't actually tested my own tap water before as I haven't actually had any issues with high nitrates in my tanks before, 80 is the highest I've ever seen it and I'm pretty sure that level should be fine with plenty of plants. (Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on that.)
One more quick question, what exactly is the difference between saltwater and freshwater test kits? I've seen combo kits, and both saltwater and freshwater kits test for the pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates among other things. I haven't been able to find much information on the chemicals used in the kits, does the salt or other extra mineral content in saltwater change the readings from freshwater kits or is the only difference in the packaging?
Note: I'm aware of the issues keeping these fish in a tank this small. They started out as impulse buys in a 10 gallon, I had a chat with my roommate about research and stocking when they magically appeared in the tank and it won't be happening again. Fortunately they're still very young and small enough to be comfortable in the tank and I'm working on getting a much much bigger tank (100 gallons+) or rehoming them if need be in the very near future.
I have an API freshwater master test kit that has been working great for me (pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate.) However, when I went to test my tanks yesterday, nitrate read zero on all of them.
I've never seen this happen before, especially not a week after the last water change, wondering if my test solutions have gone off or if something in the tap water could be interfering with the test? I keep around some of Mardel's 5 in 1 dip tests as a backup/quick ballpark estimate and the nitrate readings ranged from about 20-80ppm accross my tanks. The tanks are all fairly heavily planted and I've been seeing a lot of growth in the anacharis and java fern in the past week, though I'm pretty sure they should'nt be making up for all the waste produced by my kissing gourami and clown loaches in the 22 gallon. I've had the API test kit for 6 months tops though it may have been sitting on the shelf in the store for a while before that, no expiration date on the bottles unfortunately.Any ideas what could possibly be going wrong? I'm worried that if something in the tap water is changing my nitrate results, it may also be harmful to the fish. My water is very hard and some areas in the city have fairly high nitrate readings though I haven't actually tested my own tap water before as I haven't actually had any issues with high nitrates in my tanks before, 80 is the highest I've ever seen it and I'm pretty sure that level should be fine with plenty of plants. (Somebody please correct me if I'm wrong on that.)
One more quick question, what exactly is the difference between saltwater and freshwater test kits? I've seen combo kits, and both saltwater and freshwater kits test for the pH, ammonia, nitrites and nitrates among other things. I haven't been able to find much information on the chemicals used in the kits, does the salt or other extra mineral content in saltwater change the readings from freshwater kits or is the only difference in the packaging?
Note: I'm aware of the issues keeping these fish in a tank this small. They started out as impulse buys in a 10 gallon, I had a chat with my roommate about research and stocking when they magically appeared in the tank and it won't be happening again. Fortunately they're still very young and small enough to be comfortable in the tank and I'm working on getting a much much bigger tank (100 gallons+) or rehoming them if need be in the very near future.
) Thanks for the concern though!
