Water changes during cycling.

[Obsessed with fish]

The snails won't be in 1/2 gallon for long. When the 22 gallon is cycled i will put them in there, and my 3 and a half year old betta is better now, the salts worked! I have kept fish, and they were thriving. I do 2, 50% water changes a week. I can keep thriving tanks and I know well I can do it.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

The 22 gallon is not going to be ready until at least early December, probably later than that since you are not using ammonia.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

The 22 gallon is not going to be ready until at least early December, probably later than that since you are not using ammonia.

I'll put the fish in when the ammonia and nitrites read 0

 

[Deleted member 149562]

Did you get the full testing kit as you were advised to do...the API liquid test kit?

 

[Obsessed with fish]

Did you get the full testing kit as you were advised to do...the API liquid test kit?

I got the api liquid ammonia and nitrite test kit.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

I got the api liquid ammonia and nitrite test kit.

And nitrates etc too....the full kit...not the strips version as that is highly inaccurate

Got a photo of the kit?

 

[Obsessed with fish]

And nitrates etc too....the full kit...not the strips version as that is highly inaccurate

Got a photo of the kit?

Not the strips, it has not come in the nail yet and I only got ammonia and nitrite, and I'm bankrupt right now so I'll have to wait before I buy the other ones. I already have a ph test kit.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

So you do not have a full kit then

How exactly do you intend testing for all aspects of the water chemistry whilst cycling tween now and December if you haven't got the full kit?

Instead of buying plants, perhaps you should have bought a full kit as you were advised by several people to do....

This is why people get angry with you....you don't listen, you just do your own thing every single time

 

[itiwhetu]

To be honest in your situation, I would have said buy the test strips. If the Nitrites and Nitrates on those strips are clear, then you will have zero Ammonia. On the 5in1 strips you also get pH which is good. I don't understand this forum site sometimes.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

So you do not have a full kit then

How exactly do you intend testing for all aspects of the water chemistry whilst cycling tween now and December if you haven't got the full kit?

Instead of buying plants, perhaps you should have bought a full kit as you were advised by several people to do....

This is why people get angry with you....you don't listen, you just do your own thing every single time

Ummm, I have to have plants? And I didn't know I needed the kits until after I started cycling.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

So you do not have a full kit then

How exactly do you intend testing for all aspects of the water chemistry whilst cycling tween now and December if you haven't got the full kit?

Instead of buying plants, perhaps you should have bought a full kit as you were advised by several people to do....

This is why people get angry with you....you don't listen, you just do your own thing every single time

And I simply couldn't. I can't message the company and tell them to sell it to me for cheaper, I simply couldn't afford it.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

To be honest in your situation, I would have said buy the test strips. If the Nitrites and Nitrates on those strips are clear, then you will have zero Ammonia. On the 5in1 strips you also get pH which is good. I don't understand this forum site sometimes.

I don't understand it either to lol.

 

[Deleted member 149562]

The strip tests are not accurate enough for cycling...they are proven to give more false positives and when waiting for the ammonia & nitrites to zero and for the nitrates to show, a false positive nitrate will kill any stock that is subsequently added.

Strips are also not as easy to read as the liquid tests plus the strips are easy to contaminate.

Buying strips maybe cheaper but that certainly does not make them better since most who start with strips thinking they will be OK generally switch to liquid tests after having bad results on the strips.

 

[Obsessed with fish]

The strip tests are not accurate enough for cycling...they are proven to give more false positives and when waiting for the ammonia & nitrites to zero and for the nitrates to show, a false positive nitrate will kill any stock that is subsequently added.

Strips are also not as easy to read as the liquid tests plus the strips are easy to contaminate.

Buying strips maybe cheaper but that certainly does not make them better since most who start with strips thinking they will be OK generally switch to liquid tests after having bad results on the strip.

I'm never gonna buy the strip test kits by the sounds of things. Even though the strips are cheaper.

 

[Ch4rlie]

To be honest in your situation, I would have said buy the test strips. If the Nitrites and Nitrates on those strips are clear, then you will have zero Ammonia. On the 5in1 strips you also get pH which is good. I don't understand this forum site sometimes.

The dip strip test kit tends to be inaccurate and unreliable, this has been proven many times over.
It may be cheaper on the shorter term but in the long run it’s actually becomes more expensive as there is only so many dip strips in the kit and the api test kit has 800 tests altogether which makes this fairly reasonable for the money really.

At a pinch if nothing else is available and as a rough guide better than nothing I suppose.

But given the choice, liquid test kit is the better choice.

So that’s why we recommend the api master test kit for the beginner and if they want to switch over to a different brand after learning the basics of why and how to test for the range of parameters needed then that’s perfectly fine.