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That One Guy
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I was all happy today. Went to the pet shop to pick up my new five gallon I ordered. Going to have another breeding set up for my other pair of Fundulopanchax gardneri Killifish. Got the thing home, filled it and it gushed water like Niagra Falls. Brand new tank ! I have never seen that happen ever. Oh well, Mellissa at Exotic Pets is going to get me another one and it's not like I really needed it set up today. Bought the API Freshwater Master Test Kit too purely on impulse. Never have had one before. If the fish don't die everything is cool right ? @Byron what's that quote at the bottom of your posts say ? Anyway, it was pricey but it should last a long time. Just hope I don't go all @PheonixKingZ testing water to the finest limits. I do tend to go ape with new toys. Hope everything is going swell for everyone in TFF Land.
 
Sorry bout your tank leaking. I'm sure you put it on a perfectly flat table. Now with your new API master test kit, you can become a master chemist/scientist. I hardly use mine unless I notice fish acting strangely as my tanks are fully cycled for years. I do use Seachem's nitrate test about every two months to just make sure nitrates are under 20 ppm.

Are you doing a fishless cycle or are you going to use media from your other tanks for a nearly instant cycle? Do you have ammonia to help get the cycle going before you add fish?

Happy Testing!
 
Sorry bout your tank leaking. I'm sure you put it on a perfectly flat table. Now with your new API master test kit, you can become a master chemist/scientist. I hardly use mine unless I notice fish acting strangely as my tanks are fully cycled for years. I do use Seachem's nitrate test about every two months to just make sure nitrates are under 20 ppm.

Are you doing a fishless cycle or are you going to use media from your other tanks for a nearly instant cycle? Do you have ammonia to help get the cycle going before you add fish?

Happy Testing!
Yep, perfectly flat. Just a freak thing. In my experience, tanks just do not leak so I was surprised.
I have never worried about water chemistry. As far as cycling goes, I set up the tank and let it sit for a month then add fish. I don't monkey with additives of any kind. These Killie breeding set ups are a whole 'nother animal. No substrate. Just nylon spawning mops and a sponge filter. Small tanks that get massive thrice weekly water changes. Sometimes daily. They're kind of an artificial environment . Keeps the fungus germs at bay. The fish are doing great in them and spawning.
And one other thing causes me to scream and tear my hair out. I got a new heater for this tank and the power cord looks like it came from a set of jumper cables. Can't bend or shape it very much. What gives ?
 
Sorry about the new tank. :(How long do you have to keep fry in a separate tank before they are big enough so you can release them into a regular tank?
 
You really should keep extra sponges in your other tanks for quick cycles. I had 4 tanks that lost their cycles due to antibiotics I used. This morning before water changes I had .50ppm ammonia, 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate. I took extra sponges I had in other filters and popped them in each filter. This evening I’m back to 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite, and 5ppm nitrates in every tank. All is good again :)
 
Sounds like your tank cycled without you bothering to mess with it. I would say that's very lucky. As far as the API kit, I use it regularly because I continue to have ammonia issues, even though my tanks were once very well cycled. Problem with API is that some bottles require significantly more drops than others, hence you will run out of the Ammonia bottles and Nitrate bottles long before you run out of the Nitrite and PH bottles. It seriously irritates me that they say it's good for so many "tests" when nothing could be further from the truth, but it's the best test kit around so for every one full test kit I end up purchasing about 3 separate ammonia only test kits for about 1/3 the price - it's still makes it expensive. But again, I test very frequently - especially my ammonia readings so it makes sense that I'll use up the ammonia test first plus each of the two bottles takes 8 drops - one makes 8 BIG drops while the other makes 8 LITTLE drops so I have an excess of one bottle over another. Again, really frustrating.

Glad to see you're going to monitor your water values but, then again, you've obviously done fine without doing it. I think sometimes I get too hung up on my water values but I need to add Prime every 48 hours to ensure that any tank with high ammonia levels converts the ammonia (toxic) to ammonium (non-toxic). So, for my peace of mind it's essential that I monitor my water chemistry every other day. I've used Seachem's Stablility to try to add additional bacteria (no luck) but have had better luck using Tetra's Safe Start Plus after every water change - my ammonia levels have dropped significantly in my tanks and I'm finally seeing ammonia convert to nitrites and nitrites convert to nitrates - so I think I'm nearly cycled again - but I wouldn't be surprised if it doesn't take a number of more additions of bacteria before I'm back to zero ammonia and nitrites every day. I really hope that will be true because I work my butt off to do weekly large water changes and keep the gravel as clean as possible - while others - such as yourself, don't seem to have to do much extra and you have great water. But who said life was fair?
 
Check the expiry date on the test kit before you use it. Make sure there is plenty of time before it expires, if not, swap it for another one.

Keep test kits cool and dry to maximise their shelf life. Heat ad sunlight cause the reagents to break down quickly nd the kits go off. I kept my test kits in a plastic icecream bucket with lid, and had that on the bottom shelf in the fridge.

*NB* Keep test kits away from animals and children because the chemicals in them are poisonous.

*NB* Wash hands with soapy water after using the kits.
 
Don't forget to wash the tubes as soon as you've 'read' the colour. Rinse, and rinse, then dry with a tissue (Kleenex) poked inside. Residue left from last time can cause false readings.
 
I think it’s cute. Our new saying, “Don’t go all PheonixKingZ on us”. Our sweet boy!
 
so Pheonix...have your readings have indicated a problem? I very rarely test for all types. just mainly nitrate
 
so Pheonix...have your readings have indicated a problem? I very rarely test for all types. just mainly nitrate
Nope. After I cycle my tank (a brand new tank) I test for all parameters. When I actually get the fish, I test again (all of the parameters). Then, I test for everything except ph, because my ph is always stable. ;)
 
Sorry to hear about your tank leaking. I haven’t been on much, so I’m just gonna ask—do you have killi babies yet? Ha ha!
 
Tried out the test kit today. Didn't tell me anything I didn't know already. Water tests the same as what city water analysis shows. Still, I guess it's nice to have the peace of mind that your own verification provides. @Kritastrophe , yes I do have three gardneri fry. Slow hatching on the eggs but I'm getting there. These Killies are weird. Now they are picking at their food or not eating at all. The males are rough on the females, not as bad as a Betta but almost. I fed baby brine this morning to the fry and gave some to the adults as well. They sure came alive for that. No fish can resist.
 

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