Help With Testing Strip Results

[freddie21]

Hi
Started a new tank setup and let it cycle for one month. Once the month passed i gradually added the following fish:
week 1 - 6 danios
week 2 - 2 sailfin mollies
week 3 - upside down catfish and 2 platties
week 4 - angel fish
Now i have started finding ich on my sailfins and was recommended to test the water - which i had not done before - i have now tested the water (using testing strips) and i will now state the results as they do seem to confuse me.
At the side of the test strip bottle is a chart u measure your results against - in each section there are 3 levels:
1 - red (danger)
2 - Amber (attention)
3- green - ok
Can someone please help me with results as follows:
ph - 6.4 'amber'
kh - 0d 'red'
gh - all ok 'green' (what is gh?)
no2 - 0 'ok'
no3 - '50' amber

What should i do next ? do i need any treatments?

thanks for all advice/help

 

[eaglesaquarium]

What is the reading for Ammonia, as that is probably the most important factor.


Personally, I've found that test strips are pretty much next to useless. A liquid test kit is far more reliable. Also, if there is no test for NH3 (ammonia) or NH4 (ammonium), there is a real problem.


You are in the middle of a fish-in cycle. See my sig for more information on that.


As far as your actual results go, What does "ok" mean exactly? For ammonia and nitrite there is no reading that is "ok" except zero. The only good thing I can say is that with your pH so low, the ammonia is probably mostly ammonium, which is the less toxic form. However, it probably is the reason that the ich has shown up. Ich can be a secondary condition during a fish-in cycle. The fish being stressed by the ammonia/nitrite are more susceptible to disease, which seemingly are always present in a tank.

 

[Man of fish]

+1 couldn't have said it better.
Strips usually give inaccurate readings, you should get a liquid test kit. Many people, including me, use the API master test kit.

 

[freddie21]

thanks to all replies will buy api kit asap

 

[phocoena]

You can also getvliquid kits to check KH (carbonate hardness) and GH (general hardness). Low carbonate hardness means that your water pH level has poor stability. I am not fully sure about GH but think it is the total amount of dissolved ions in the water.

 

[Gilli]

You will need to buy meds for the ich. If used correctly, most of these meds have a high success rate. With malachite green based meds be extra careful and halve the dosage for Catfish which are extra sensitive to the ingredients (and can easily die before they are cured). Use half the dose that is recommended and carefully monitor the catfish in the tank for signs of struggling. If the fish appears to struggle remove it from the main tank and treat it in a quarantine tank with a lower dosage level. Treat all fish for at least a week, even contrary to the directions on the label, if you want to prevent re-occurrence later.

Through all treatments, you can raise the temperature to speed up the ich life cycle. If you do raise the temperature, do so very slowly so as not to stress the weak fish further. Raise it no more than 1-2°C every day, and do not allow this temperature to fluctuate. Also, consider the types of fish you are keeping...most tropicals can tolerate as high as 30 degrees C. Water changes should be done regularly just as they normally would be (keeping the dosage constant by replacing the amount which is lost with each change). Carbon should be removed from the filter to keep it from absorbing the medication.

 

[ainsy]

Bin the test strips - have never found the to be even remotely accurate.
Get yourself some good quality liquid tests - they will pay you back in the long run.

 

[freddie21]

Hi all
Took a sample of my tank water to pets at home to test (as i do not have my api test kit yet - should be delivered through the week) and they said the water was almost perfect and that it did not need any treatment
i also bought some white spot treatment and have applied the requird amount to the tank, removing carbon filter and i have also raised the temp slightly too.
fingers crossed the two affected fish make a full speedy recovery
thanks for everyones help/advice

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Hi all
Took a sample of my tank water to pets at home to test (as i do not have my api test kit yet - should be delivered through the week) and they said the water was almost perfect and that it did not need any treatment
i also bought some white spot treatment and have applied the requird amount to the tank, removing carbon filter and i have also raised the temp slightly too.
fingers crossed the two affected fish make a full speedy recovery
thanks for everyones help/advice

That's what I can't stand about having someone else test the water. "Almost perfect" tells me "almost nothing". And the fact that pets at home recommends not doing a water treatment also means nothing, because I've heard of them suggesting that when they tested the water and found that the ammonia was over 0.50ppm or nitrite was at 2ppm. Honestly, I wouldn't trust them to watch my tank (and I literally mean watch, not anything more than that), let alone trust them to advise me on how to care for my tank. Do you know specifics about what your water stats were?

 

[freddie21]

i ordered an api testing kit offline, so i am awaiting delivery - i went to pets at home as i thought they would be reliable and put me over until my testing kit arrives - as soon as it does arrive i will test the water myself.
earlier i applied the whitespot treatment so hopefully fish will be recovering soon - does anyone know how long it will take before the white spot treatment starts to work?
once my testing kit arrives should i wait until the whitespot treatment has finished before testing the water?
thanks

 

[Gilli]

The treatment will start to work immediately. Continue treatment for the duration advised by the meds instructions. Because of the lifecycle of the parasite it is critical that you continue the treatment doseage to the end even if there are no visible signs of the Ich. I always do a second treatment just to make sure because if the paratiste isn't fully destroyed it will re-appear and the white spots will not show up straight away.

You can test your water the meds shouldn't affect the readings. remember if you do water changes to redose for the amount of water you have removed.

 

[Man of fish]

+1

 

[ainsy]

I would take anything that P@H says with a pinch of salt - find yourself a better LFS

 

[freddie21]

great news up to now the mollies infected with white spot seem to be recovering - as many of the white spots have gone...need to add another dose tomorrow (the 4th day) and then again on friday (the 7th day) to make sure it fully gone. Thanks for all help/advice

 

[ainsy]

Glad to hear it - remember there is no substitute for good quality water.