Water Stats

[littlelegs]

What are the ideal water stats once a tank has cycled?

 

[dwarfgourami]

What are the ideal water stats once a tank has cycled?

ammonia 0
nitrites 0
nitrates preferably not over 40 ppm

 

[littlelegs]

how do you get the nitrates down?

 

[WILDER]

Test your tap nitrate first and leave it 24 hours for a true reading.

 

[littlelegs]

Thank you

 

[Cheffi]

how do you get the nitrates down?

By doing water changes.

 

[littlelegs]

i tested my water today

ammonia 0
nitrate about 200
nitrite 0
ph 7.6

i did a water change yesterday and the nitrate has gone up since.

Is there any reason why? Should i do another water change again today?

 

[Callum]

nitrate over 200 ? test your tap water see how much comes out the tap. Also to lowere them do another waterchange. Will there be plants in the aquarium as plants use nitrates to help grow and will lower them.

 

[littlelegs]

im beginning to wonder if it is the test that i am using.
Im using tetra test strips.

Day before i done water change the nitrate test was coming up between 50-100.
Did water change yesterday
did another test today and it is higher.
Im gonna go and buy the proper test and see what that comes out at.

 

[CFC]

Test strips are notoriously inaccurate and nitrate is well known for being difficult to get true readings from with home test kits. The best test kits to use are the liquid ones that you add drops of chemical to the water sample and then comare the result with a colour chart, although these can still be difficult to read and at best give you a "somewhere in the region of" reading.

 

[littlelegs]

Thank you, im gonna go out and buy a nitrate liquid test and see what that comes up with.

 

[Callum]

the hagen test kits are better than the tetra ones but ive heard API ones are even better

 

[littlelegs]

i got a api ammonia test. I thought i was saving money by buying the strips for the other tests, but i was mistaken.

Serves me right for trying to save money.
Im just glad i havent put any fish in yet.

 

[littlelegs]

I bought a proper api master test kit this afternoon.

All stats are fine, tank is ready, yay!!

But have set up a smaller second tank to rehouse the goldfish (as couldnt part with it) so just waiting for that to cycle now.
Day 2 of second tank and readings are fine except for ammonia reading at 0.5.

 

[Callum]

how much smaller goldfish still require a large tank not a 5g or a bowl