Water Test Interpretation

[Stephan]

I finally broke down & bought a master test kit tonight. I need help interpreting the results

Ammonia .25 ppm
Nitrite 0 ppm
Nitrate 40-160 ppm. I'm bad at distinguishing those colors but if had to guess maybe near 80. This is nitrate ion or total nitrate. It says other kits that use nitrate - nitrogen will be 4.4x less.

First question. I've read 40 should be the max on nitrate, but which method is that by? In other words should I be dividing my result by 4.4?

I also tested my tap water and it was 0-5 ppm (closer to the 0)

Now for the interpretation. This is a 55g tank I've had ip for about 10 days but it was a very well established goldfish tank and was empty one day max. Didn't use any chemicals in cleaning. I'm hoping most of the bacteria may have been saved this way.

I immediately put 1 zebra danio & 5 small tiger barbs in there. Then 2 days ago I put 2 more zebra danio after I finally caught them from the other tank & 1 black Molly. Then just today I added 5 more small tiger barbs.

So, ammonia of .25 can it be attributed to what I just added today? Or is that the natural amount that would build up with these fish in that time period & nothing is being converted?

Does the no nitrite indicate the ammonia isn't being converted ? Or just that whatever is, is being converted to nitrate correctly?

Obviously something is making nitrate but isn't that a lot to build up in that short period oc time? (unless I am supposed to divide) does it indicate I have a good bacterial colony? Or could something else be producing nitrate directly?

I'm glad I got the test kit but At this moment it's created more questions than answers for me.

Thanks in advance for your advice.

 

[KittyKat]

Bacteria live predominantly in the filter, not the water. Did the filter remain in water for the whole day? If yes, most would have survived, if no, most would have died.

Try to keep your ammonia below 0.25 ppm by doing daily water changes with warm, dechorinated water. I recommend you start with a 50% one now. Assume you are fish-in cycling until we can tell otherwise.

There is currently no way to tell your nitrite -> nitrate bacteria status.

I have no idea what you're on about, with the division stuff.. but the ppm reading that the test gives you is the reading we normally use.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The simple solution is a water change as KK has stated. Don't let it get too complicated.

The formula for healthy fish is simple:
NH3 (ammonia): 0ppm, NO2(Nitrite): 0ppm, NO3 (nitrate): as low as you can keep it reasonably.


The first two happens through the bacteria in the filter. The last one happens through water changes.



If you are showing 0.25ppm NH3, then a water change is in order. If your NO3 is really as high as the 160ppm you are mentioning, then a water change is in order. (Hey, look at that the same step takes care of both issues. ) Generally, you don't want your total nitrate value to grow much higher than your tap water values - maybe only 20-40ppm over that so that the water chemistry is as close to the tap as possible so that all future bigger problems can be easily solved by starting with a major water change.


Did any of the water you put into the tank when you switched over come from the goldfish tank or another previous tank? That could account for the higher value than you are expecting. More than likely, I suspect that the reason you are getting an ammonia value right now is that you've added more fish to your tank (or are overfeeding) and your filter hasn't caught up to the load yet. Is this the same filter you were using when you had goldfish in the tank? Did you clean the filter at all before you switched to tropical? Did you rinse it in tank water or did you rinse it in tap water?

 

[Stephan]

No water carried over except maybe a cup or 2 at the bottom. I'm not sure if the filter stayed in water. I know the media was still wet. I'm really concerned at the high nitrate value. If it's that high after 10 days with the few fish I can only imagine what it's gonna do when I have a full stock in there.

I know you say not to overcomplicate it, but I'm also trying to gauge when it's cycled and all BC I need to move some of the fish around. Actually my angels & mollies are swapping tanks with these guys. I just needed to put the hardier fish in first just in case. So if it's just a bump BC of adding fish I'm ok with that. I can move them in correct proportion. But if it's not cycled that's a different story.

Oh and I rinsed everything in tap water.

 

[Tizer]

Dont worry about nitrate, my tank is 8 months old and it hovers around 60-80, it simply cant be helped. From all the research i've done and comments i have seen its only when it gets over 300PPM that it starts to have any impact on the fish. Im sure there are some fish which it can effect when lower, i know discus owners go a bit mental wanting low nitrates but in general its not something you have to worry about or even test very often (as long as you keep up your weekly water changes).

 

[eaglesaquarium]

No water carried over except maybe a cup or 2 at the bottom. I'm not sure if the filter stayed in water. I know the media was still wet. I'm really concerned at the high nitrate value. If it's that high after 10 days with the few fish I can only imagine what it's gonna do when I have a full stock in there.

I know you say not to overcomplicate it, but I'm also trying to gauge when it's cycled and all BC I need to move some of the fish around. Actually my angels & mollies are swapping tanks with these guys. I just needed to put the hardier fish in first just in case. So if it's just a bump BC of adding fish I'm ok with that. I can move them in correct proportion. But if it's not cycled that's a different story.

Oh and I rinsed everything in tap water.

THERE IT IS!

Never rinse your filter in tap water. Always just slosh it around in old tank water. The chlorine in the tap water probably killed off some (or even most) of your bacteria, and you may no longer be cycled. I would wait a few days before doing any more moving of fish around. Be prepared to do water changes. Chances are that it will bounce back nicely. The high nitrates could be either a flaw in how you are conducting your test, a flaw in how you are interpreting the results (40-160 is a wide range, after all), or something else entirely different. I haven't a clue what that other thing could be, but I'm still quite new to all of this. I'm sure someone will have some insights.

Did you do a second nitrate test to confirm the results of the first? Did you follow every last little detail in the nitrate test? Are you using any kind of fertilizers - either in the water column, in the substrate or in root tabs?

 

[Stephan]

Yeah. I don't plan to test it much, but of course wanted to now BC if there were no nitrates at all id know I didn't have any bacteria.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Yeh indeed. I would do a large water change to get the ammonia and nitrates down, and monitor closely for the next week, and be prepared to do daily water changes.

Of course it could be that your going through a mini cycle after moving fish around and cleaning the tank.

It's really hard to know what exactly is going on from just one test result, we will be able to give more advice after a few test results. That way we have a far better understanding of what is happening with your tank.

So for now, a 50% water change and test daily too see what's going on. If the ammonia goes up, another water change.

Hang on in there it won't be like this for too long (I hope) lol

 

[Stephan]

No water carried over except maybe a cup or 2 at the bottom. I'm not sure if the filter stayed in water. I know the media was still wet. I'm really concerned at the high nitrate value. If it's that high after 10 days with the few fish I can only imagine what it's gonna do when I have a full stock in there.

I know you say not to overcomplicate it, but I'm also trying to gauge when it's cycled and all BC I need to move some of the fish around. Actually my angels & mollies are swapping tanks with these guys. I just needed to put the hardier fish in first just in case. So if it's just a bump BC of adding fish I'm ok with that. I can move them in correct proportion. But if it's not cycled that's a different story.

Oh and I rinsed everything in tap water.

 

[Stephan]

Sorry for the dupe post. When u say "there it is" that was 10 days ago. I know that could affect, but wouldn't the ammonia be higher by now or is .25 ppm all the fish I have would produce in that time?

Also somethings working if I have nitrates right? So I don't think we can conclude from the data that I lost my colony. Just BC I did something that could be devastating doesn't mean I'm devastated.

I know, through reading this forum, the causes & solutions etc. That's not what I'm asking about. I guess I'm more asking if I didn't have the bacteria working what would my ammonia readings be after that time period. Ie how much waste/ammonia would my fish produce in the time period given.

I'm trying to figure out whether I'm almost there or that it's just been long enough for a buildup of .25 and I'm actually not converting anything yet. So if I were to put a totally brand new tank of 55 gallons and put 5 tiger barbs & a zebra danio and no ammonia were converted what would my ammonia read after 10 days?

 

[Stephan]

Oh and my water comes from a community well. It gets some treatment I think but probably not much. Thus while I don't plan to clean in tap water again it might not actually be bad.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Well, the ammonia being there still after 10 days indicates at least a mini-cycle. As I said before, the nitrates being as high as 160ppm doesn't make any sense based on the information we currently have. Any OTHER information you can add would benefit those trying to advise you. I'll be out the rest of the day... Best wishes.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Just keep testing the water. As I said we can't tell what's gone wrong after 1 test result. I understand where your coming from when you say that there's alot of fish in there for the reading to be only .25ppm. Which more than likely it's a small mini cycle, it may clear up by tomorrow, it may not. Just keep testing daily an be prepared to do water changes to bring the levels of ammonia down.

If you post your results after every test on here, we may be able to spot something you havn't already. I hope this helps

 

[Stephan]

Yeah I'm gonna keep testing. The problem with the nitrates is it doesn't match the 40 80 or 160 color. It's def somewhere in between those. If I had to guess closer to the 80. I saved it to get my friends opinion on color when he comes over. But will test again tonight or this afternoon to see where I am.

Oh and actually I don't know if that's a lot of dish for that reading of not. I was hoping someone had an estimate of how much one fish produces in a day or something.

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

A fully stocked tank produces about 4-5ppm a day, but I depends on individual fish, water temp, how much and what food, amount of live plants, as that is food to some species aswell. There are so many variables that it would be nearly impossible to say. All that there is is that a fully stocked tank can produce up to 5ppm of ammonia.