This Will Take Time To Read

[modaz]

ok here it is


set up 300L 9 days ago, added media from my other tanks to speed up cycle, left it for a while, tested the water stats were
ammonia 0
Ntrate 10
Nitrite 0.8
ph 8.5
temp 25
external fluval 350
using a Nutrafin test kit (pipette and test tubes)
then tested all my other tanks with the same kit

tank 2: been matured for 9months
ammonia 0
nitrate 50
nitrite 0
ph 7
did a water change to reduce nitrate and changed 50% of filter (internal fluval)

tank 3: been matured for 3 months
ammonia 0
nitrate 10
nitrite 0
ph 7
water change done and filter done (internal fluval)

Tank 4: matured 6 months
ammonia 0
nitrate 50
nitrite 0
ph 7
water change again (UGF)

Tank 5: cycling set up 10 ish days ago
ammonia 0
nitrate 30
nitite 1.0
ph 8.5
water change again (UGF)

ok thats the stats from that kit but after 12 hours i tested all again and all results were the same so i tested for ammonia on all tanks with seperate NH kit 3 tanks were 0 and tank 1 (the new one 300L) was 0.3, tank 5 was 0.1

Anyway i got so hacked off with the different readings from different kits that i thought i woulg back to using the test strips (tetra test 5 in 1) and the results were:

tank 1
nitrate 10
nitrite 5
ph 7.5

tank 2
nitrate 30
nitrite 0
ph 7.5

tank 3
nitrate 0
nitrite 0
ph 7.5

tank 4
nitrate 50
nitrite 0
ph 8

tank 5
nitrate 30
nitrite 10
ph 8

can you see why im now finding it hard to believe what ever, i had been using the strips and the seperate ammonia test for the past 9 months and controlled my stats fine (well sorted any probs out) but since ive got this new kit all hell has let loose and now i dont know which test to believe, sick of doing water changes on the tanks that show less than 50 nitrate.

sorry guys and girls if ive done your heads in

 

[CFC]

Sometimes we can worry too much about testing water and striving for those perfect numbers, are any of your tanks showing visable problems?

I rarely if ever test my water unless there is a visable problem, as long as the fish are feeding well and are happy enough in their ways then i use them as my water quality guide and only run tests if i feel something isnt quite right.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

mmmm i agree with CFC at least to an extent

all test kits results vary, in reality for the price your average home aquarist is prepared to pay your not going to be able to get a really good always accurate test for these factors. i'm sure if you wanted to set up some sort of lab and take a science degree you could get more accurate results, but for most of us we have to accept the limitations of test kits and use them more as guidance than hard factual readings.

the only tank i'd be testing now if i was you is the one that's newly set up, the rest of them don't worry unless you see any specific problems with the fish.

 

[rdd1952]

I agree with CFC. I probably haven't tested my 75 gallon tank more than twice in the last year. The 29 I have tested a little more as I lost a couple tetras but they had been in the tank for almost 2 years and I finally chalked that up to possibly age as there was no other signs of problems.

I would forget anything you see on the strips. The are so inaccurate that I don't trust them. I would say your cycle on the new tank is progressing fine as you have nitrite and nitrate and I assume you will be adding more ammonia. There has got to be something in that tank that is raising the pH though as all your other tanks are right at 7 while that one is over 8. Are you using some type of substrate to raise pH for cichlids or something like that? At that pH level, the bacteria development will start to slow slightly. According to this article, the optimal pH range for bacteria growth is between 7.2 and 8.3.