Need some water testing help please...?

Question

After reading these Q & A's I went and got some test strips for my tank. Now, I know some of you don't like the strips but that's all wal mart had and I'm sick so I don't feel like going anywhere else. It's close to home. Here's the results... Ammonia 3.0, nitrate 20, nitrite .5, hardness 300 (very hard), alkalinity between 120-180, and pH is about 7.8. What does all this mean? i know I sound stupid but I tested the water and don't know what the results mean. I bought some Bio-spira today and added it to the tank cause the water is really cloudy and fish don't look so good. I also bought some Easy Balance made by tetra but haven't added it. Don't know if I can w/ the bio-spira. Do I need to add it? Also, one last question. What is the difference btween aquarium salt and table salt?

Freshwater tank - 5 guppies, 2 neons, 3 rummy nose, 3 platys, 1 pictus 30 gal

Please don't come down on me, educate me. I'm willing to learn. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

I'm going to offer a slightly different take on this than AJ... not that's he's wrong or anything, just a different viewpoint.

First, yes, your tank is still cycling. That is growing the bacteria needed to eliminate the ammonia and nitrites. Until this process is complete, you will need to watch the ammonia level very closely, even once a day. I would suggest a 50% water change to cut the ammonia down to 1.5. Even that is a bit high, but it's safe enough for now. Another 50% change tomorrow would be wise to lower it even more. The fact that you have nitrite in the tank says the cycling process has started, so you shouldn't have to worry about that part for very long at all.

Now, as far as the hardness and pH. It's high according to the books for the fish you have but, they will be fine in that pH and hardness and at this point you really don;t want to try to adjust those factors, especially with the tank still cycling and the frequent water changes you will need to do for the next week or so. Fish are amazingly adaptable and will do well in a wide range of pH, so it's far better to leave it a bit high than to send them on a roller coaster ride of Ph going up and down all the time. So get the tank cycled before you even consider adjusting the pH and hardness. (even then I wouldn't suggest it for your fish to be honest)

As for the various treatment products, I wouldn't recommend any of them personally, just something to remove chlorine and chloramines. Beyond that, they really aren't needed.

The difference between aquarium salt packaged for freshwater tanks and table salt is the added iodine and sometimes anti clumping agents. Aquarium salt is otherwise chemically identical. I recommend kosher salt from the grocery personally, it's also the same but like aquarium salt, no added iodine or anti clumping agents. If your Walmart is a Supercenter, it's right there with the other salt, if not, then any grocery store will have Kosher salt. No need at all to spend the extra for the aquarium salt. To be technically correct, salt will not increase the hardness of your tank water.

If you want more details about water chemistry for aquariums, feel free to drop me an email, I teach a college course in the subject and will be glad to take you as far as you want to go into water chemistry.

MM

Answer 2

OK you tank is still cycling, do a 25pct water change.
Your fish produce waste, this becomes ammonia, as the tank cycles and the beneficial bacteria start to bloom (cloudy) they turn the ammonia into Nitrite, both of these are dangerous for fish, so the easiest way to reduce it for the moment is to do some water changes everyday, once the bacteria have done there job and are on top of the situation, the Nitrite is converted in to Nitrate, water changes and/or plants can reduce this Nitrate below 20/30 is not so bad and your fish can live with it, you probably have a certain amount of Nitrate in your tap water.

Your alkalinity is too high for the fish you have, the rummy nose especially, this is dependent on where you live some areas have hard alkaline natural water table others will have acidic water, the water company then buffers the water generally to 7 neutral danger here for you is that this buffer breaks down suddenly and spike the PH in your tank. You need to reduce the alkalinity which is measured on the PH scale. I'm guessing that you've measured GH at 300 which is indeed very hard, and the 120-180 is KH calcium hardness, which brings you to aquarium salts which i would say you shouldn't use as they tend to harden the water.

I'm not sure how easy balance works but if I have the right product it some reduces Nitrate, but the best way is to do regular water changes once you tank has cycled, then your readings should be Ammonia 0 Nitrite 0 Nitrate 20. You will find that they may move a little especially if something has died or you've introduced new fish as the bacteria take up the slack.

Alkalinity and acidicity is measured on the PH scale netural being 7 below acid above alkaline, the mixture of alkaline and ammonia is bad for fish as it increases the severity of burning to the gills.

You will need to do a water change of 25pct each day for the moment you also need to test the water out of the tap, then store some water for 24hrs and test it again, it could be its the buffering agent in there thats breaking down in which case you need to solve the problem before you do water changes, the fact that GH and KH are so high leads me to believe that the water table is below limestone, if you continue to use the tap water you will have to balance the water before doing water changes. You can try and source R.O. water this is water thats been pushed through membrain which will take out 99pct of the mineral content reducing the water to a PH of around 6-6.5 because all the minerals are removed it can cause PH swings lower so you use 75/25 of R.O (reverse osimosis) and tap water, this will add back the salt minerals required to buffer the water and your PH should be around the 6.5 level perfect for the fish you have.


If you have a canister filter you could put a small amount of peat. put the peat in a cut of piece of stocking/tights tie it off and leave it in the filter for a couple of days this should lower the PH but you will need to monitor it quiet closely so we don't overshoot, this method can put the PH down to 4 or 5 which will definetly upset the fish.

Don't add any more bio-spira as the cloudiness in the tank is the bacteria blooming its overshooting at the moment because theres so much work/food for it once the ammonia and Nitrite is reduced the cloudiness will go and the tank will be finding its balance, Don't add the Easy balance maybe later when the tank is balancing but for the moment the less chemicals the better.

Aquarium salts are a buffering agent most water has some to an extent, infact theres a tube called a Nitragon which you run water through and it removes minerals from the water to recharge it you run dishwasher salt through it. Salts are just different minerals, Table salt being made up of something different to aquarium salt, just look at it as tiny sand particles some have taste and others you don't like on your ice cream.
Again aquarium salt is generally used to harden a water and yours is plenty hard now.

That lot is probably as plain as mud.

Aj

Never use distilled water theres no mineral content at all in it so it can crash PH wise or spike very easily, which is probably why her friend told her to put aquarium salt in.
You don't want to do that as Tetra's come from the Amazon area PH 4-6.5 GH 4-10 KH very low
Never wash your filter under the tap always clean it in the dirty tank water your taking out, otherwise you'll kill the bacteria in the filter.

Answer 3

You are not keeping the water or gravel clean enough. Start doing small water changes (about 10%) every day. Condition your replacement water with a chlorine remover and let it set and come to the same temperature as your tank water. Siphon out about 10% of your water and try to also vacuum out the stuff on and in the gravel. Add the replacement water and prepare some more for the next day, Keep repeating this until the ammonia and nitrite go to zero. Then you can begin doing larger changes weekly(about 25% is good). Don't stress your fish by throwing chemicals in the water,just use a good chlorine and chloramine water treatment and try to clean the refuse out during water changes.
Also the test strips are fine for your purposes,we're not doing laboratory work here,just trying to keep the fish alive.
One more thing if you get everything going well,the Pictus will grow up and eat everything else in the tank.
Lastly, your tank will not need salt of any kind,but if you are determined to add some get aquarium salt,Iodized table salt is not good for fish and aquarium salt is cheap.

Answer 4

I'm new at this also but a good friend that was murdered was my fish help when my water was hard he said to add aquarium salt it's a teaspoon for every 5 gallons. I also use distilled water for my tank and prime when I add water. my fish have been happy and I have had no problems. I don't know about ammonia if 3.0 is good or bad but I know if your filter is not working right you can get an ammonia blume because the water does not circulate right. I use a Aqua clear power filter and it has ammonia remover, Carbon, foam and Bio Max which lets bacteria thrive and creates beneficial bacteria. Hope this helps.

Answer 5

The liquid test is USUALLY more accurate than the paper strips. I say "usually" because there are things that can go wrong with both methods. First, check both kits for expiration dates. If the chemicals are old, this can throw your results off. And don't depend on when you bought or opened the kit - these can sit on store shelves for years, although good stores will get rid of them before the expiration. There's also one company that will replace chemicals for you if you bought a kit after it expires. Second, make sure you follow directions exactly and handle the strips/collecting tube correctly. As MM said, you need to hold the dripper bottle perfectly vertical - this can change the size of the drops, therefore your results. Hold the test paper only by the end without the "pads". And be careful how you collet the sample - you don't want tank water flowing over your hands into the tube or "you" can affect the results. As for your before-and-after test, these results could be correct. If your nitrates were high (80) and you replaced 20% of the water you would still have 60 (although I wouldn't want to be one of the fish in your tank if this was the case!). Another possibility - have you checked your water source for nitrates? You could also take a sample of your tank water to a fish store in a clean container and have them test the water to see how this compares to your results.

Answer 6

its good that your reading up on things like this and trying to get help, kudos for that!

the nitrogen cycle is extremely important when fish keeping, so its a good idea that you learn it.
http://fins.actwin.com/mirror/begin-cycling.html

ammonia comes from uneaten foods and fishy watses. ammonia is extremely toxic to fish at levels over .50 (i recommend an immediate 50% water change to try and get it down).
ammonia turns into nitrite (also very toxic at levels over .50, again an immediate water change to bring it down).
nitrite is then turned to nitrate, less toxic, should be kept below 40.
test strips are not very reliable, so theres a good chance that these could be way off.

pH means per hydrogen. it is the balance of hydrogen and hydroxide in the water. pH is measured on a logarithmic scale. that means, pH of 6.0 is 10x more acidic then pH of 7.0, pH of 5.0 is 100x more acidic that pH of 7.0, etc. so a drastic change in pH is not good for the fish.

GH, general hardness, is a measurement of magnesium and calcium in the water. different fish like a different hardness. there are ways to reduce it, if necessary.

alkalinity (carbonate hardness, KH) is a measure of the waters buffering capability (absorb and neutralize acid) this keeps the pH stable. so essentially, the higher, the better (in most cases).

bio-spira is something that helps to cycle a tank. it should be refrigerated until use and is pretty much a bag of beneficial bacteria. this means that it will not help clear up the tank, it in fact, will not do anything. if the water is coudy, the only thing that will clear it up is water changes.