Water Test

[mickaroo]

Hi i have just done a water test on my 90l tank.
i have been running this for the last two weeks, without fish.
the results are....
PH 7.6
High PH 7.6
Ammonia 0.25
Nitrite 5.0
Nitrate 10

are these high? and do i need to do anything to get them right?

thanks mick.

 

[Piltdownpaul]

Your ammonia and nitrite need to be 0 ultimately to know that the cycle had completed and is running correctly.

 

[kim03333]

hi there. your ph level should be fine but as it is alkaline, the toxicity of any ammonia you have present will increase so this is worth noting when you have fish in there. are you in the process of a fishless cycle? you say you have been running your tank for 2 weeks, but are you cycling it?if so keep going as you are not there yet

 

[mickaroo]

hi there. your ph level should be fine but as it is alkaline, the toxicity of any ammonia you have present will increase so this is worth noting when you have fish in there. are you in the process of a fishless cycle? you say you have been running your tank for 2 weeks, but are you cycling it?if so keep going as you are not there yet

Hi kim,
Yes i am in the process of a fishless cycle.......should i keep doing this untill my ammonia and nitrite reach 0?

 

[kim03333]

yes keep adding the ammonia. the fact that nitrite is fairly high and ammonia is relatively low is good because it shows you that the ammonia is being converted into nitrite. nitrates are fairly low and will stay this way until you have sufficient bacteria to convert the nitrite into nitrate. this could take a while. eventually you should see a rise in nitrate and a fall to zero in ammonia and nitrite. once this happens you would do a water change to remove the nitrates and you can then add fish.