Water Test

[Bojangles]

Going to take some water down to my lfs for him to test my water

This is going to sound really stupid

But what should i take it in ?

Dont want to put it in some kind of bottle that will contaminate the water

 

[Davo86]

Going to take some water down to my lfs for him to test my water

This is going to sound really stupid

But what should i take it in ?

Dont want to put it in some kind of bottle that will contaminate the water

add boiling water to the bottle a few times and it should be ok, alternatively just use an old jam jar or small jug or even an old fish bag.

 

[petertr]

Have you set up a new tank, or is this for the old 60 Litre one?


If you're cycling, then you need to be testing daily - your LFS is unlikely to help you do this.

Get an API Master test kit for £20-30 mate.

 

[Bojangles]

Have you set up a new tank, or is this for the old 60 Litre one?


If you're cycling, then you need to be testing daily - your LFS is unlikely to help you do this.

Get an API Master test kit for £20-30 mate.

The old 60 ltre everything was ok then i did a water change because i added sand yesterday now my test results are

Ammonia - 0 ppm
Nitrate - 0 ppm
Nitrite- 0 ppm
PH - 7.6

Im just really comfused and bit worried i have killed my good bacteria

I was going to my lfs for something so was thinking of taken water down just too double check it

 

[Miss Wiggle]

why do you think you've killed the bacteria? if you had you'd be seeing ammonia and or nitrite.

 

[Bojangles]

why do you think you've killed the bacteria? if you had you'd be seeing ammonia and or nitrite.

I filled my tank half way up but did not use dechlorinator and stuck the filter back in (which was kept in old tank water) tho it was only the tail bit of the filter that went in to the water before i remembered i had not treated it im just worried it might have been enough to killed my bacteria was such a stupid mistake to make.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

don't panic! it's theoretically possible to nuke your bacteria like this, but highly unlikely, just monitor ammonia and nitrite for a few days, if they both stay at 0 then you're fine.

 

[waterdrop]

Yes, agree with MW, its pretty hard to kill a bacterial population, they're pretty tough, especially when they are pretty mature. Just keep posting up your morning and evening test battery results and the diagnosis will become evident.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[petertr]

If you mean you used non dechlor'ed water with the media from the filter I sold you, I highly doubt it would kill the bacteria - it was a well-established filter that I've been using for over a year.

Looks like you've got a lot of new water in the tank, as there is no nitrate. Test for Ammonia tomorrow, if there is none, test for Nitrite.

Again, if not, test for nitrate - at least 1 of those should show something eventually (might take a few days)

 

[Bojangles]

Thank you for the replies

If you mean you used non dechlor'ed water with the media from the filter I sold you, I highly doubt it would kill the bacteria - it was a well-established filter that I've been using for over a year.

That has made me feel alot better

Would have been gutted if i had killed the bacteria because of a stupid mistake

 

[Bojangles]

Update

Just tested my water

Ammonia - 0.25 ppm
Nitrite - . 0 ppm
Nitrate - looks to be inbetween 0. ppm - 5.0 ppm
PH - 7.6

Should i do a small water change today to get rid of Ammonia?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

yup, water changes whenever you get a reading that's not 0 for ammonia or nitrite

 

[Bojangles]

I did a water change round about 30% and will test again in a few hours.

Also added a 2nd filter in there a fluval 2 plus and added a slice of mature media from my stingray filter should i leave it about a month before removing the stingray filter?

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Yes, the longer you leave it the better, a month should be fine

 

[Bojangles]

Called in to my lfs today to pick up some pellets for my catfish and was having chat to the owner and he mentioned that because i changed from gravel to sand that it might have caused an ammonia spike because i removed the good stuff when getting rid of the gravel

He seems to know what he is talken about but thought i would ask here anyways