Still Clueless

[tennis4you]

Not until I got the 125g tank did I really start testing the water conditions. My 55g tank has always done really well with very little loss of life over an 18 month span. But now that I have this big 125g tank I am trying to be more sensitive to all of my fish tank's water conditions. All of my tanks read the same though and I am not sure what to do, all have ammonia readings, although admittingly I have not yet gone out to get liquid tester yet. I looked today at the LFS and they didn't have any. But while I was there I decided 10 tetras would look good in the tank. If the angels don't start eating them I will get some more. Cute buggers. That is besides the point though.

Here are my readings...

Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Hardness: 120
Alkalinity: 80
pH: 6.4
Ammonia: .25-.50 (tough to read these crappy sticks, I would say somewhere inbetween.

I tested the ammonia in my tap water and it was .25-.50 as well.

Is my fish water bad? Good? I know I shouldn't have ammonia. Like I said the other day, the ammonia sticks already read .25 when I pull them out of the box, both kinds too! (I have two types of ammonia test strips).

I want to start cleaning some of the gravel in the large tank. It has been set up for about 7 weeks now but I have dared to touch it. I had a ton of brown algae form about 1-2 weeks ago. I left it alone until 3 days ago and I wiped it all off, I haven't seen any new appear yet. DO I dare start cleaning the gravel yet?

I have these test strips and they just don't seem to tell me anything. Same readings every time, I don't know what they mean.

[emc7]

What kind of dechlor are you using? If you really have ammonia in your tap water it is most likely from dechlorinating chloramine in the water supply. But I am more inclined to believe your strips are bad. An old established tank should have 0 ammonia even after a water change with ammonia in the water. The strips seem to have a shorter lifespan than the liquid tests, check your expiration date (if there is one).

[Danh]

I agree your test strips sound bad if they read .25 without even being wet. Get a new test. If you still read ammonia from the tap, start using prime to treat your water. Then you have to get a specific few brands of ammonia tests, as prime will mess up the rest and read ammonia even if you don't have any.

Why not clean the gravel? Go ahead. Wiping generally won't get RID of BA. It is common in new tanks. You can keep wiping it, but it should go away with a little bit of time.

[jones57742]

T4Y

Nitrate:.......20 OK: I try to not let mine get above this value
Nitrite:.........0 This is the value which you want.
Hardness:..120 Your water is very, very hard water.
Alkalinity:....80 and the hardness is partially due to Ca
pH:...........6.4 Your water is slightly acidic but 6.0 to 8.0 is typically OK

I believe that your "Hardness" = Gh and I attempt to maintain the Gh at 5.
I believe that you "Alkalinity" = Kh and I attempt to maintain the Kh at 3.
I attempt to maintain these low hardness levels (ie. soft water) due to my plants but many fish will "do better" in much harder water.

Ammonia: .25-.50 (tough to read these crappy sticks, I would say somewhere inbetween.
I tested the ammonia in my tap water and it was .25-.50 as well.
Under uniform, steady state operating conditions the ammonia concentration should be 0
BUT
as stated in previous posts IMHO your "test strips" are providing erroneous ammonia concentration measurements.

DO I dare start cleaning the gravel yet?
Unless there is "some overwhelming reason for this cleaning" IMHO I would not do that one.

TR

[jones57742]

T4Y:

Please read my previous post.

With respect to your algae I have posted a thread in FYI which may be of some help:
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/fyi-...xas-style.html

TR

[Fishfirst]

NO this is wrong... Do not attempt to adjust your hardness and alk. For one the fish don't need your water to be a certain hardness or alkalinity unless you are trying to breed and raise fry (even then in certain situations this does not apply) plus messing with hardness or alkalinity can change your pH quickly and this can kill your fish. Also, changes in these parameters mess with your fishes osmoregulation, both are stresses almost every good aquarist chooses to avoid.

For that matter your pH is perfect for angels and tetras.

[emc7]

I have to agree with fishfirst. If your fish in your 55 do well, then don't try to adjust the pH or hardness. I do think its useful to know pH and hardness. It can help you chose fish and a sudden change can indicate problems. But the important thing is to make sure that the tank cycles. Freshwater fish are a lot more tolerant that saltwater fish of a wide range of conditions. If you were planning on breeding tetras, I'd say lower the hardness with RO water, but for a community tank your water is fine.

[jones57742]

T4Y:

1) I absolutely agree with Ff's and Em's posts with one exception.
(Please note that I indicated that I maintained soft water due to my plants but did not recommend it.)

2) Inducing new fish which are accustomed to soft or medium soft water will cause "at the best" distress and at the worst death.
(I have the reverse problem [ie. inducing fish into my tank which are accustomed to medium hard or hard water])

3) As all of your questions had not been addressed I prepared my post.
If you have any questions please post again.


Folks:

Please note that a similar situation as set forth in 2) above exists with respect to nitrate concentration.

TR

[Fishfirst]

Originally Posted by jones57742

T4Y:

1) I absolutely agree with Ff's and Em's posts with one exception.
(Please note that I indicated that I maintained soft water due to my plants but did not recommend it.)

2) Inducing new fish which are accustomed to soft or medium soft water will cause "at the best" distress and at the worst death.
(I have the reverse problem [ie. inducing fish into my tank which are accustomed to medium hard or hard water])

3) As all of your questions had not been addressed I prepared my post.
If you have any questions please post again.


Folks:

Please note that a similar situation as set forth in 2) above exists with respect to nitrate concentration.

TR

Well jones, you didn't say you "didn't recommend it" you just stated they were better for your plants, which are two very different statements.

Anyway... fish are quite able to handle a change in pH and hardness, as long as its a gradual one (matter of a half hour to an hour) so the number 2 statement is also a myth that should be put to rest. Fish that have been bred in captivity or have been held in captivity for a while (MOST of our freshwater fish are) get used to these conditions changing and will thrive at any hardness or pH. Of coarse there are a few exceptions especially when you want to consider breeding but moving them from a hard water to a soft water or vise versa shouldn't be a huge hurdle which kills fish as long as you approach it with A LITTLE intelligence.

Quick changes such as doing a large water change on a tank that has been neglected or using a different water source on a large water change can be harmful. But slow changes will not affect your fish.