Tap Water Testing

[Whitey_144]

Hi i did my firs ever API test today!

I still have to setup the tank and cycle, but in preperation i tested my tap water. The below are the results:

WATER STRAIGHT OUT TAP READING NOTES
PH 7.8
AMMONIA 0/0.25 Could be either of these readings, or inbetween
NITRITE 0.25 Looks like pale blue (but 0 on chart is greeney)
NITRATE 10/20 ppm More likely to be closer to 10

Does this look normal to you, i Didn't expect to see Nitrite? but could i just be reading the colours wrong? anyone else have this problem on nitrite?

I've also left out some water which i will test in 24hrs to see what changes occur (i hope PH drops).

My plan was to have Amazon fish, but am i in a bad area to do this or do most people on this forum have a high PH from tap?

thanks!
Adam

https/spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Alz_PxmLya1adEV4aEljS0w1YXNHVlMzNmdhWTBBYVE&hl=en&authkey=CNiF7LIL

 

[dayzofspeed]

i am keeping amazonian fish with my ph level being at 7.6 without any problem

 

[Skins]

Another thing to remember Adam is when you add your bogwood this will help bring it down.

Keith.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

Check you water authorities website for water quality and compare the data.
They also change the dosing of chemicals from time to time so readings can vary.
When i started out, experienced forum members advised me to leave a cup of water for 24hrs and re-check ph which i did and the result was different due to dissolved gases i believe.

 

[Whitey_144]

this seems to be my local water supply

http/www.waterplc.com/pop/map-water-quality-report.asp?zone=L11.html

seems PH is about 7.7 on average from 2009, not sure how to read the nitrite on there.

 

[BIG BAD BARRY]

mg/L = mg/kg = ppm ***FOR WATER***

Water parameters vary from region to region.
The nitrite and nitrate levels are what can be expected.
Ammonium levels depend on ph i think - there are experts on this forum who will be able to help you on that one! As ammonia is found naturally and used in fertilizer, it is bound to be in the water supply at low levels.

 

[waterdrop]

I suspect you're going to be fine. You have a little ammonia and nitrate in your water but that is very common. You are interpreting the nitrite(NO2) wrong: baby blue is the zero ppm indicator in the API freshwater (you do have the freshwater one and not the saltwater one, right?) master kit.

What about the little bit of ammonia? Well, during the fishless cycle you just have to be aware of it, and right after fishless cycling when your biofilter is still a bit fragile you also have to be attentive to see how long it takes the new biofilter to drop it to zero (mostly out of curiosity) and then later you'd expect your mature filter to take that ammonia right out of the water quickly after a water change.

What about the nitrate(NO3) reading from the tap water? Well, after cycling is finished, you'll want to just subtract your tap NO3 number from your tank NO3 reading to see what level your current maintenance (weekly water changes and monthly filter cleans for instance) is giving you. Ideally it should be 15 or 20 ppm (ie. 15 or 20ppm above your tap level) but higher than that isn't necessarily a problem. What you really care about is the "trend." If NO3 keeps wanting to creep up on you then your water changes need to be larger and/or your gravel-cleans need to be more thorough or your filter cleans need to be more frequent.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Whitey_144]

mg/L = mg/kg = ppm ***FOR WATER***

Water parameters vary from region to region.
The nitrite and nitrate levels are what can be expected.
Ammonium levels depend on ph i think - there are experts on this forum who will be able to help you on that one! As ammonia is found naturally and used in fertilizer, it is bound to be in the water supply at low levels.

thanks!

 

[Whitey_144]

I suspect you're going to be fine. You have a little ammonia and nitrate in your water but that is very common. You are interpreting the nitrite(NO2) wrong: baby blue is the zero ppm indicator in the API freshwater (you do have the freshwater one and not the saltwater one, right?) master kit.

What about the little bit of ammonia? Well, during the fishless cycle you just have to be aware of it, and right after fishless cycling when your biofilter is still a bit fragile you also have to be attentive to see how long it takes the new biofilter to drop it to zero (mostly out of curiosity) and then later you'd expect your mature filter to take that ammonia right out of the water quickly after a water change.

What about the nitrate(NO3) reading from the tap water? Well, after cycling is finished, you'll want to just subtract your tap NO3 number from your tank NO3 reading to see what level your current maintenance (weekly water changes and monthly filter cleans for instance) is giving you. Ideally it should be 15 or 20 ppm (ie. 15 or 20ppm above your tap level) but higher than that isn't necessarily a problem. What you really care about is the "trend." If NO3 keeps wanting to creep up on you then your water changes need to be larger and/or your gravel-cleans need to be more thorough or your filter cleans need to be more frequent.

~~waterdrop~~

Hi WD,

thanks, a very helpful reply once again!

it is indeed the freshwater kit and the coour in the tube was very light blue, but to me the colour card looks more greeney at 0 than blue. it may just be my eyesight! but thats good news for my water!

once my tank is cycled i will carry on logging my scores to see what the tank is doing and to feel comfortable while its maturing.

 

[waterdrop]

Another thing to be very careful about these days is that fluorescents of all types (the compact fluorescents we are all putting in lightbulb sockets to save energy etc) can give a greeny cast to things, making them look different than back when the cards were designed (no doubt they were designed with incandescent light in mind.) This can also effect interpretation of the amount of green in the ammonia test results, with some people thinking they still have trace ammonia forever.

~~wd~~

 

[Skins]

Another thing to be very careful about these days is that fluorescents of all types (the compact fluorescents we are all putting in lightbulb sockets to save energy etc) can give a greeny cast to things, making them look different than back when the cards were designed (no doubt they were designed with incandescent light in mind.) This can also effect interpretation of the amount of green in the ammonia test results, with some people thinking they still have trace ammonia forever.

~~wd~~

We will have to start calling you "THE PROFESSOR".