Water Testing Question

[andyg81]

im still in a fish in cycle as you will know if you have read throug my other threads,

my question is this, regarding ammonia testing

I tested my tank with a dipstick style test strip - possible results are 0, 0.5, 1, 2-5, 6-8 or something like that, the test showed 0

i tested my tank with the api master kit and it showed 0.25 ammonia,

now for the sake of an arguement why should I do water changes ? because in theory if i didnt have the API kit I wouldnt know and would leave the tank for that day ?

just to add I am doing daily changes of upto 50% depending on readings and so far my ammonia hasnt risen above 0.25, bearing in mind I test in the evening around 5pm after work, change the water then its not touched till the next evening.

 

[KittyKat]

now for the sake of an arguement why should I do water changes ? because in theory if i didnt have the API kit I wouldnt know and would leave the tank for that day ?

Because your fish will be harmed if you don't keep it low. A more accurate title for this thread would have been "What are the effects of ammonia poisoning?", and the answer to that is long term increased susceptibility to disease and early death, depending on species and extent of exposure. Basically, any exposure is harmful to *some* extent, 0.25 ppm is the point at which we say it goes from "mildly harmful" to "deadly". Because ammonia is harmful in any amount, it is best if you keep the readings as close to 0 ppm as possible and do not let them come close to 0.25 ppm, let alone rise above. I have seen other members on here come back with the "another 0.1 ppm is not going to make any difference" attitude only to have large numbers of their fish die at the same time 1-12 months down the line as a result.

Also, try using the API kit against something that you know is 0 ppm because 0 ppm can look like "just above 0 ppm" if you haven't got a real reading to compare it to.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

im still in a fish in cycle as you will know if you have read throug my other threads,

my question is this, regarding ammonia testing

I tested my tank with a dipstick style test strip - possible results are 0, 0.5, 1, 2-5, 6-8 or something like that, the test showed 0

i tested my tank with the api master kit and it showed 0.25 ammonia,

now for the sake of an arguement why should I do water changes ? because in theory if i didnt have the API kit I wouldnt know and would leave the tank for that day ?

just to add I am doing daily changes of upto 50% depending on readings and so far my ammonia hasnt risen above 0.25, bearing in mind I test in the evening around 5pm after work, change the water then its not touched till the next evening.

Dipstick type tests are notoriously inaccurate. Liquid tests aren't perfect but they are much more reliable than the dipsticks, so if you get 0.25 on a liquid test it's far more believable.

 

[andyg81]

yeah thats why i got the liquid test, it was just a question that someone with a dipstick test who say for example doesnt have the money to buy a liquid test would think that there water was safe for the fish when it wasnt

mine hasnt gone above 0.25 and has mostly been between 0 and 0.25 its sometimes difficult to tell thats why I checked with the dipstick in the first place to see what that read.

on the other hand my nitrites and nitrates are both 0 as well

 

[Prime Ordeal]

it was just a question that someone with a dipstick test who say for example doesnt have the money to buy a liquid test would think that there water was safe for the fish when it wasnt

There's probably two or three cases of sick fish on this forum each week where the owner only has dipstick type tests. It usually goes something like "my fish have all suddenly developed ich but all my water parameters are perfect". To which the question is asked "what are you testing with" and you get the inevitable reply "I use a dipstick test". They then trot off and buy a liquid test and find that their fish have been sitting in 0.25ppm of ammonia for weeks.

Moral of the story: bin the dipsticks and invest in a liquid test kit (it works out cheaper than replacing your dead stock and/or medicating).

 

[ZoddyZod]

now for the sake of an arguement why should I do water changes ? because in theory if i didnt have the API kit I wouldnt know and would leave the tank for that day ?

I'm not sure I understand your point - If you didn't test the water with the kit, the ammonia would still be present. You've tested it, so you know, so a water change is recommended.

 

[Prime Ordeal]

now for the sake of an arguement why should I do water changes ? because in theory if i didnt have the API kit I wouldnt know and would leave the tank for that day ?

I'm not sure I understand your point - If you didn't test the water with the kit, the ammonia would still be present. You've tested it, so you know, so a water change is recommended.

I believe his point is that how do people who only use dipstick tests get away with it and I explained why they don't in my last post.

 

[andyg81]

yeah you explained it, and yeah you got the point I was making,

personally I wont go back to using the dipsticks now I have the API test, im expecting a spike on my tank tonight as I added some more fish last night and had a water change planned in anyway, approx 50% or more tonight of the 180litre capacity

 

[hilly81]

Was adding more fish a good idea when you know there is ammonia present and it isn't getting processed? Only going to make it worse.

 

[andyg81]

possibly not but basically i got a great deal on the fish including 1 free electric blue ram so I wasnt going to say no, lol


ill continue doing water changes to get it down

 

[hilly81]

possibly not but basically i got a great deal on the fish including 1 free electric blue ram so I wasnt going to say no, lol


ill continue doing water changes to get it down

Fish suffering thanks to a good deal?? Really? Not the best fishkeeping moral. The deal won't seem as good if they start dying.

 

[KittyKat]

possibly not but basically i got a great deal on the fish including 1 free electric blue ram so I wasnt going to say no, lol

For next time, you might want to reconsider whether it's a good deal because it won't be if the fish does die due to the ammonia or nitrite in your tank (and for some species, like rams, bad water quality is extremely harmful) or if the not-perfect water causes them to have diseases (like whitespot).

I, personally, do not consider increasing the risk to the other fish such a good deal, and if you plan to be successful in the long term, you will need to be more patient, especially when it comes to buying fish… unless you are happy settling for being just the average customer who ant pet shop or LFS can take advantage of.

 

[andyg81]

im on top of the water changes, testing 3-4 times a day at present really keeping a close eye on things, I appreciate that it may be too soon for certain fish but when your talking about a saving of well over £50 in total in the last 2 weeks (my job is a buyer so im always looking for best prices etc etc ) that £50 can go towards upgrading my tank / filters etc etc to new rather than second hand, I already have my eye on a 5ft tank, if I lose fish of course i'll be unhappy but trust me I am watching things like a hawk, my wife isnt happy about it because for the past 3 week I spend hours a day/night looking / checking / reading about nothing else other than fish and fish tanks.

I also have a big container with treated water and a heater in so if anything was to go wrong I can get my fish into that with a small filter (using some old filter media) as a temporary measure while I sort the tank

 

[KittyKat]

It's good that you are prepared, we're just warning you of the dangers

By the way, just noticed your stock… all the shoaling (including schooling) fish would appreciate more company of their own kind. That's Corys, barbs and tetras out of your lot.

 

[andyg81]

yep aware of the stocking issues, at present im looking at taking the lemon and harlequin tetras out and the cherry barbs out (possibly back to the lfs, possibly to a friend) and adding a couple more corys and rummy nose tetras. Dont think it would be a wise idea to add a load more of each to the tank, possibly be over stocked then ???