Water Test Results

[Sheridanp]

My water has been very cloudy lately, so I did a test. Here are the results:

Nitrate(NO2)- 0.1
PH Low Range- Over 7.6
PH High Range- Greyish/Blue. This one was way off, not even close to on the list.
Hardness- 60mg/L

So, what do I do now? Thanks.

 

[cujoho78]

Hi. I'll try to help point you in the right direction. It's a little hard though because you haven't given quite enough info. Cloudy water usually means a bacterial bloom. This is not the end of the world and is rather common in new set-ups. How long has your tank been running? If it is new then this may be the cause. It should go away by itself in time if it is a bacterial bloom, and if it really bothers you then you can do a series of small water changes over a few days to try to clear it up. Some people buy fancy chemicals to try to clear the water but i think they can cause other problems. Is your nitrate reading of 0.1 in ppm or mg/L? If so then that is fine. You really need to test for ammonia and nitrIte though as these are the chemicals that are toxic to the fish. If your tank is rather new then these chemicals may be building up and causing problems. As for your pH, the best thing to do is to leave it alone. Having a stable pH is much better than trying to adjust it because the swings are stressful to the fish. So as long as your pH isn't much more than 8.0 the you should be fine. This is something that you need to get an accurate test on as well. I would think that it would be uncommon for one's tap water to be very basic higher than the 8s or 9s naturally. Just be patient, get the proper tests done, and remember that water changes are your friend. Good luck.

 

[Sheridanp]

Ok, thanks for the info. My tank is not brand new, but I just re-stocked about a month ago. When I clean my tank, it is really dirty. I have been cleaning it quite a bit, but it's still quite dirty.

So, I should do small water changes? Is that about it? I will continue to test. The fish seem fine right now also.