Need Or Want

[Fishy friend2]

Do I need a test kit or is it just something that is nice to have if I should get a test kit what brand would u recommend

 

[Fishy friend2]

Do I need o test ammonia nitrate ph nitrite and chlorine or just 1 certain thing

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

You can do without the chlorine, although that would be nice to know exactly how much is coming out the tap.

The others are essential otherwise you dont know what's going on with your tank, unless whilst cycling you want to go to the LFS every day twice and pay for them to do it (50p a test(some do it for free))

I can highly suggest getting the API freshwater master kit. It has all the test you need all the others are wants

 

[Fishy friend2]

Wat would be good test results

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

It depends, are you fish in or fishless. If you have fish in, the only good result is 0 ammonia and nitrite, and no more than 80 ppm of nitrate (others I'm sure will disagree)

Fishless it depends on how far into the cycle you are

 

[Fishy friend2]

Fish in test

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

0ppm ammonia 0ppm nitrite and no more than 80ppm nitrates as I said in my last post.

How many fish do you have? How big is the tank, and I'm going take a stab in the dark and say it's not cycled either if you don't have tests, or don't know what your looking for.

In the beginners section there is a great thread about fish in cycles there.

Ideally you don't want to go over .25 ppm of nitrite and ammonia between water changes

Oh and get a test kit!!

 

[Fishy friend2]

55 gallons once I get it set up its gonna have 3 fancy goldfish and 15 of zebra danios and there morphs leopards, long finned, glofish etc

 

[Athena]

Why are you going to mix goldfish with tropicals? Not recommended really because they are best kept at temps below 70F, whereas tropical fish need warmer temps.


EDIT - ok, don't worry - just checked up on Zebra Danios and can see that they are able to tolerate temps just below 70F. Never kept them myself so didn't realise.

 

[happybarry]

I prefer to test my tank water weekly, especially important when building up a tank. Better to know whats happening before it becomes a problem and a test kit will last for ages. My local store now charge £2 a test so a test kit pays back quickly where I live.

 

[the_lock_man]

Do I need a test kit or is it just something that is nice to have if I should get a test kit what brand would u recommend

NEED!!!!!!!!

 

[Fishy friend2]

Thanks for ur help my Petco tests for free should I just go there

 

[fluttermoth]

No! Get your own tests mate. What if your fish start behaving oddly at 9:30 of an evening? You can't nip down to Petco then, can you?

Get tests for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate; that's all you really need, or the API or Nutrafin master test kit.

 

[the_lock_man]

Thanks for ur help my Petco tests for free should I just go there

No, you NEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!!!! these tests.

If you rely on Petco, you are relying on someone who may or may not have had proper training in how to interpret the results.

 

[This Old Spouse]

Thanks for ur help my Petco tests for free should I just go there

No, you NEEEEEDDDDDD!!!!!!! these tests.

If you rely on Petco, you are relying on someone who may or may not have had proper training in how to interpret the results.

+1
I would suggest getting a Nutrafin master kit. We had the API master kit and got some unreliable results.