Water Parameters

[gh74]

Right i did a water test at the tap here is the readings
 
pH 7.6
High Range 7.4
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
 
These are the exact same readings i am getting from my tank when i test the parameters.

 

[Ch4rlie]

What test kit are you using?

 

[gh74]

am using the api masters test kit,and i shook every bottle til my arm was going to fall off

 

[Ch4rlie]

followed instructions exactly as it says on the booklet?
 
Timing of shaking bottle and test tube and leaving for 5 mins etc etc

 

[gh74]

Yes all done exactly Ch4rl1e

 

[Ch4rlie]

Ah, for nitrate, you need to let tap water stand for 24 hours.
 
Get a glass and put tap water in it, leave it overnight and test once 24 hours are up.

 

[gh74]

Ok no worries,just ones had said to test it straight from the tap,il go and fill a cup now

 

[TwoTankAmin]

Ch4rlie meant to say pH not nitrate. Water often comes from the tap over or under saturated with co2. This needs to out or in gas to reach its normal equilibrium value for one to get an accurate pH reading. So one can either bubble a jug of tap water with and air pump for a couple of hours or let it stand for a24 before testing for the pH.

 

[Ch4rlie]

Oh, of course, my mistake. TTA is absolutely correct in that ph is what was supposed to say, not nitrates.
 
Apologies.

 

[gh74]

I had let it sit 24 hours before and it was the same reading for the pH

 

[Mamashack]

Did you really mean that the nitrate is 0? Is this a newly set-up tank?
If not you may need to give the API nitrAte no.2 bottle more than a good shake - they sometimes need to be banged hard against something to get the 2 chemicals to mix properly. It appears that one of them can settle quite stubbornly to a sediment in the bottom of the bottle.

 

[gh74]

Tested it again banging the bottles of the kitchen worktops and shaking them until my arm was sore,and still the reading are the exact same.

 

[KirkyArcher]

am using the api masters test kit,and i shook every bottle til my arm was going to fall off

 
 

followed instructions exactly as it says on the booklet?
 
Timing of shaking bottle and test tube and leaving for 5 mins etc etc

 
 

Yes all done exactly Ch4rl1e

Out of all the tests in the API kit, you are only asked to shake one bottle prior to testing and that's the Nitrate bottle #2

 

[gh74]

hi kirky,so even though i had shook that one to death,my readings straight from the tap is the same a when i take readings from the tank.

 

[KirkyArcher]

I'd get an independent Nitrate test of your aquarium water at your local fish store