Test Results

[moochy13]

i just did a test on my water, and was a little surprised. not sure if i should be though ?

basically, my tank water is nigh on identical to my tap water :

PH - 7.8

ammonia - .25

nitrite - 0

nitrate - 40 ppm

is this anything to be concerned about ? i suspect the ammonia and nitrate readings to be down to the fact i put too much food in the tank this morning. i did that thing where you look in the tub and you think theres not much left, so i dumped it in. turns out there was more than i thought i also added 7 fish on monday, so i guess the filter is still catching up. i'll do a part change tomorrow. tested with a brand new api kit i got today.

 

[N0body Of The Goat]

If you still get a reading of 0.25mg/l ammonia now, I'd say its time to do a big water change tonight, in the region of 75-90% (so that you dilute that ammonia by at least 3 to a much safer 0.08). Siphon the tank floor for any rotting food and check the filter sponges for rotting food (gently rinse in removed tank water if needs be).

Even if there is no rotting food, your fish could further toxify that current reading overnight when they excrete the remains of their "feast"

 

[the biffster]

big big water change i should
say

 

[Gilli]

Thorough gravel vac - large water change every day plus cut right back on feeding until your ammonia is back to 0

You should add your food just a little at a time and watch to see it get snapped up, as soon as the frenzy dies down stop!

 

[moochy13]

i havnt got much gravel in my tank, its mostly sand and i hoover the poo up off the sand every other day. i never have food left over. things is what was left in the pot looked like the amount i usually drop in. unfortunately that wasnt the case.

this was my first time using the api kit, and tbh i thought the ammonia and nitrate tests were a bit difficult to distinguish between the colours. my ammonia test was somewhere between 0 and .25 i think, but i took the worst case scenario as my result, same with the nitrates.

 

[moochy13]

another thing occurred to me - my tests were as far as i could tell identical between tap and tank water. so what would be the point of changing the water ? i'll do another test in a bit, maybe i did something wrong despite following the instructions.

 

[anon02]

The point in a water change is that it will get rid of the excess food

The good thing about the API kit is that the colour for the zero reading differs from the 0.25 reading unmistakably for the deadliest toxins

 

[moochy13]

there was barely any food left, almost all of it eaten. ive done the change and the ammonia level has come down. i also rinsed through the sponges as it hadnt been done since starting the tank. and considering it was a fish in cycle i suspected it would be a bit minging.

this kit is good, but does anybody really use the ph test that much ? also, can you get replacement bottles without buying another kit ?

 

[karin]

I use the Ph test regularly so I know the Ph in my tanks. In my case it is 8.0. This will in part let me know what fish I can and can't keep. (And before that thread gets out of hand and 8.0 is higher than maybe desired but I keep all kinds of fish aside from Discus and german blue rams). Also, if you have a problem (e.g., filter fails) your Ph can get all out of wack, along with ammonia and nitrites. It is another way of knowing when things are going wrong and when they are going right.

Yes, you can get replacement bottles without buying the whole kit.