Testing Water

[niki090909]

Before I got my 55 gallon tank, I had a 20 gallon with 2 gold fish and a pl*co. Now both of these are pretty hardy and the goldfish were both about 6 when they passed on. I was dumb and never tested the water for anything really. Just used start right.

My question is, what exactly should you test for in your water? Right now I test for Ph, which seemed to jump all over and be very high, but now it seems to be stable even with water changes now. Someone here told me earlier that ph is not that important, which i see now. I think cause it was a newer tank, I was having problems. And now its stable, excellent! lol

I also test for ammonia, which i never have any, none in my tap, and i do frequent water changes so I never have any.

Now my question, those test kits are not the cheapest thing in the world. What should I be testing for? I do have live plants, dunno if there are tests for them too. I use some flora something or another for them. But isn't iron bad for them? SHould i be testing for that?

When my tank first did the whole new cycle thing I knew nothing about it, didn't have this wonderful message board to help me out. I waited 2 days, and slowed added fish. Everyone survived it.

So I guess my question is, should I be testing for nitrates nitrites, hardness and what ever else is out there? And how often? And what the heck do they mean anyways.

Thanks Niki

 

[RedTurquoise]

I guess the first question is are you 'cycling' your tank? Are you cycling with fish or using fishless cycling?

Or is your tank setup quite long already?

When starting a new tank, I recommend testing for ammonia everyday. When ammonia levels spike, start testing nitrites every second day. You will see your ammonia come down quickly and the nitrites increase. This is where you must be patient. Your nitrites will spike and slowly decrease. Now you can start testing nitrates every 3-4 days. Once nitrites are 0 and ammonia is 0, you should have quite a level of nitrates. After the 'cycle' is complete, you can test the ammonia, nitrite, nitrate levels weekly or when you notice your fish 'acting' wierd!

You may also include ph and hardness tests during the cycle however ph should be constant at all times. If this is not the case, I would test frequently to see how much it varies and try to find the cause.

 

[niki090909]

Thank you for your help! My tank I'm assuming has already went though its "cycle" I've had it for 2 months now. The Ph is is steady at 7.2 and ammonia is at 0

So I probably need a nitrite, nitrate, and hardness testkit since i have a ph testkit and ammonia. Actually I ordered one of those ammona alert things you stick in your tank. We'll see how that works out, and how accurate it is.

Now another question I have is this, I know there is ammonia decreaser and Ph up & down, which I'd rahter not use either unless totally necessary. But what do you do if the hardness, nitrate or nitrite isn't where it should be? I've never seen chemicals to change it I don't think, and I realy wouldn't want to use them anyways. Are water changes basically what you do to fix them? And I do a 15-20% water change every 5 days or so, it that enough?

Thanks again Niki

 

[RedTurquoise]

You are on the right track Niki! Do not use chemicals unless you must. Actually, there is no need to use chemicals at all. Weekly water changes will keep nitrates down and hardness you do not and can not really mess with. Ammonia and nitrite levels should not be a problem as bacteria should take care of that however, water changes again will reduce levels it there is a need.

Messing with water chemistry is not neccessary unless you intend to breed.