Ok! Done My Water Test And Heres The Results!

[beany_bot]

HI Im the guy who said he never did water changes, well I took your advice on board and did a 20% change in both my tanks, these tank are not that old - about three months, it was my old tank years ago i never did a change in. Ok alot of you wanted stats well got out today and bought a test kit (£44) !!!!! its the size of a suitcase!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! heres the results for the tanks listed below in my sig.

Community tank. (55gal)

NH3 NH4 NO3- NO2- GH kH pH
0 0 50 0 <3d 0d 6.4


Baby tank (six guppies ) (5gal)

NH3 NH4 NO3- NO2- GH kH pH
0 0 25 0 <3d 0d 6.4


(NH3 + NH4 = ammonia, NO3- + NO2- = nitrates nitrite, GH = waterhardness, kH = em not sure, pH = pH!!)


Are these results ok guys? They look fine i think will be doing water changes every week from now on, how much should i do 20% ?

 

[rocknurworld2006]

stats look good.

i would do 10%weekly water changes or 25%fornightly. (ideally weekly though)

 

[aaronnorth]

Isn't it impossible to have 0d KH?

NH4 is ammonium

KH is carbonate hardness

 

[andywg]

Try testing the tap water. If there is a large difference in hardness and pH from the tank to the tap then you may have problems jumping straight into 20% changes and such.

When tanks haven't had a change for a long time it is advised to do a number of smaller changes while working up to the more "standard" water change amounts.

 

[wolfwolf]

With a KH of 0 aren't the tanks at risk of a pH crash? kH is the buffer for pH right?

 

[kribensis12]

That is too hard to read. Can you post it like this:

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
Ph:
Gh:
Kh:

^ like that. Im confused when i look at the stats you posted! Thankyou!

 

[beany_bot]

The water here is really soft straight out the tap though.

 

[aaronnorth]

With a KH of 0 aren't the tanks at risk of a pH crash? kH is the buffer for pH right?

Yep

 

[beany_bot]

That is too hard to read. Can you post it like this:

Ammonia:
Nitrite:
Nitrate:
Ph:
Gh:
Kh:

^ like that. Im confused when i look at the stats you posted! Thankyou!

COMMUNITY TANK

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 50
Ph: 6.4
Gh: <3d
Kh: 0d

BABY TANK

Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 25
Ph: 6.4
Gh: <3d
Kh: 0d

 

[beany_bot]

Tested the tap water, 0 hardness too. GREAT scottish water!!! yummy.

 

[rabbut]

you realy do need to watch pH if KH is zero. Try doubling the size of you KH sample, and half the reading you get, and it will be more accurate. The the pH is stable there has to be some hardness for that pH and 50ppm nitrates in your community tank, and nitrate is far more acidic than 6.4, and is the usual caurse of pH crashes

 

[beany_bot]

Any one else any opinions?

 

[beany_bot]

you realy do need to watch pH if KH is zero. Try doubling the size of you KH sample, and half the reading you get, and it will be more accurate. The the pH is stable there has to be some hardness for that pH and 50ppm nitrates in your community tank, and nitrate is far more acidic than 6.4, and is the usual caurse of pH crashes

I doubled the sample size of the tap water and it is still 0 hardness, i think we have the softest water in the world here (its renowned for it).
Im getting a bit scared by everyone saying im going to have a pH crash, what do i do to stop this !?!?!?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

£44 for a test kit

can get the API freshwater master test kit which is the one most recommended and contains everything you need for about £15 off ebay

 

[OscarWilde]

I doubled the sample size of the tap water and it is still 0 hardness, i think we have the softest water in the world here (its renowned for it).
Im getting a bit scared by everyone saying im going to have a pH crash, what do i do to stop this !?!?!?

Hi mate.

I really would not stress too much about this. Your tank has been fine up to now. Just keep up with your regular changes. (I do about 30% - 50% every two weeks) and keep an eye on Amonia as this is the main one to watch out for.