Understanding Test Results

[squarefish]

I wonder if anyone can help me work out the readings I have done today please...

My tank is the small AquaOne 28litre and has been up and running about a month now. There are five Serpae Tetras and six Neon Tetras, which the LFS told me was OK (?). There are only plastic plants at the moment.

I started using the Tetra Strips for water tests but today have got a Nutrafin Mini Master Kit. I took readings before doing anything this evening which were - Ammina 0, pH 8, NO2 Nitrite 1.6 and NO3 Nitrate 50 to 110. I have to say it was not easy to compare the colour of a liquid in a test tube to a printed piece of paper but I think I'm in the right area!

After this I changed 20% of the water (in a container since yesterday and with AquaSafe added) and put in two capfulls of Cycle booster.

The readings now are - Ammonia 0, pH 8, NO2 Nitrite 1.6 and NO3 Nitate 50 to 100, in other words no different!

I also tested water from the tap which had Nitrate reading of 5 to 10 (is this expected?)

How should I interpret the readings, should I do this every day, and what is the timescale to see anything changing?

Thanks for any advice Steve

 

[scorphonic]

First, the tank is not fully cycled, you should have a zero value for nitrites.

Did you expect to see a change in the test strips and liquid test kit? Maybe you are the lucky one who got a strip kit that was good!!!

Interpret the readings that you get from the liquid test kit as correct.

It is good that your ammonia is at zero which means that that part of the cycle is complete...just keep an eye on the Nitrites now and you should either see them rise and then fall or simply fall to zero. This means that the cycle is completely finished!

 

[vinylman]

I wouldn't listen to anything else your LFS has to say.

 

[rdd1952]

Your LFS has given you bad advise which unfortunately is the norm. A 7 gallon tank isn't big enough for 11 tetras. Just the 5 serpaes alone is probably pushing overstocked depending on the filtration.

As mentioned, your tank isn't cycled and the readings you have for nitrite and nitrate are extremely high. Do a 50% water change as soon as possible and then do 25% changes up to 4 times a day until the nitrite is below .25 ppm. And throw the strips away and get a good liquid master test kit. Strips are terribly inaccurate and you really can't trust the readings you get. A 20% water change would have definitely changed the levels but strips are so inaccurate and give you such a wide range that you can't see the results of a water change.

Nitrate in your tap water isn't uncommon, especially in the UK. Because you are using strips it still may be wrong but that amount isn't anything to worry about. Some people have 40ppm of nitrate in their tap water.

Last but not least, using the Cycle is pretty useless. There are very few people that believe it contains any beneficial bacteria.