I'm from India- I Have four pairs of parrot fish about 2" and I have put them in a 100 litre tank.?

Question

How do i measure the nitrate and ammonia levels in the tank, i use a mechanical filter and an airpump. I don't have any gadgets and I clean the tank complete every four weeks

Answer 1

2.5 cm of fish per 3.78 litres of water is what you should have. That's one inch per gallon.

You should NOT completly clean your tank... you should do a 50/50 partial once a month taking the water from the bottom of the tank. They make a special "tool" which is bascially a plastic water bottle (bottom cut off) attached to a hose that is used to syphon the bottom of the tank. It lifts up and churns the gravel without sucking the gravel up. This removes the fecal matter lieing in the gravel and the water containing the nitrates at the bottom of the tank.

BTW... the nitrates at the bottom of the tank are from un-eaten food and fecal matter decomposing. Completly cleaning your tank removes good bacteria that are fighting to maintain balance in your aquarium!

Oh and remember, let the new water being added to the tank sit for 24 hours to remove chlorine if you water has a high count. Pouring the water from one bucket to another helps to remove most of it almost immediately since you are oxygenating the water, as it is being dumped, which causes the chlorine to move to gaseous form and leave the water.

Answer 2

You can either buy test kits from a pet store or take a sample from your tank to a store and have them test it for you.

You probably have Ammonia in your tank if you completely change the water every 4 weeks. You really should just change a quarter of the water at a time, using a syphon to vaccuum the poop out of the gravel bottom. If you do this once a month and you still have too much nitrate (over 50ppm) you need to change it more frequently. With fish that eat a lot (more than every other day) you may need to do it once or twice a week.