5 In 1 Test Kit

[garf3r]

Ok, i was told to get a Nirate test kit, so i got a 5 in 1 test kit. It tests:

PH, NO², NO³, KH, GH

1. Nows it says for PH that it should be 7.0 for neutral, but mines is 6.5 on the chart. So i have phUp and phDOWN, in crystal form, how much do i add to a tank of my size (pic below) and not kill my fish!

Its 24inch by 36inch by 1inch, so that means its about 37 uk gallons?

2. It says for GH that it should be 60 - 120 for most tropical fish, mines is in between 60 - 120 so i think am good with that one

3. KH it says should be at 80 - 120 for most tropical fish, am at 40! How do i bring this level up...

4. My NO² is at 0.5, this needs to be 0, its a new tank, water has been in it for 6 weeks, fish for 3 weeks. it says in the manual within 4 to 6 weeks this will drop to 0 once my filter has developed?

5. My NO³ is at 20 to 40, it says this should be 40, im not sure what to do here?

So what one is the "Ammonia"?

I've tryed to place as much detail as i can in this post.

My Tank spec is

Fluval 2
AirPump with a tap on it, releasing quite alot of air, for nice calm bubbles!
Water temp is 26
Heater is by elite or sumit like that
Few rocks and fake trees plus a peice of bogwood.. (pic of tank below)

Any help is great as always!! You guys know your stuff an really helping me out to enjoy fish keeping alot! So thanks, i take advice well and try to use the best solution, so any advice wot so ever please! Say!

 

[fishlette]

Ok, i was told to get a Nirate test kit, so i got a 5 in 1 test kit. It tests:

PH, NO², NO³, KH, GH

1. Nows it says for PH that it should be 7.0 for neutral, but mines is 6.5 on the chart. So i have phUp and phDOWN, in crystal form, how much do i add to a tank of my size (pic below) and not kill my fish!

Its 24inch by 36inch by 1inch, so that means its about 37 uk gallons?

2. It says for GH that it should be 60 - 120 for most tropical fish, mines is in between 60 - 120 so i think am good with that one

3. KH it says should be at 80 - 120 for most tropical fish, am at 40! How do i bring this level up...

4. My NO² is at 0.5, this needs to be 0, its a new tank, water has been in it for 6 weeks, fish for 3 weeks. it says in the manual within 4 to 6 weeks this will drop to 0 once my filter has developed?

5. My NO³ is at 20 to 40, it says this should be 40, im not sure what to do here?

So what one is the "Ammonia"?

I've tryed to place as much detail as i can in this post.

My Tank spec is

Fluval 2
AirPump with a tap on it, releasing quite alot of air, for nice calm bubbles!
Water temp is 26
Heater is by elite or sumit like that
Few rocks and fake trees plus a peice of bogwood.. (pic of tank below)

Any help is great as always!! You guys know your stuff an really helping me out to enjoy fish keeping alot! So thanks, i take advice well and try to use the best solution, so any advice wot so ever please! Say!

ok firstly, done use ph up or down. this just causes swings in the ph and is more deadly to the fish than leaving it at a lower ph. as long as your ph is stable thats the main thing unless of course you have fish that are fussy about that kind of thing.

it seems you have gotten a test kit that isnt really right for you. you need the kit with ammonia, nitrites, nitrates and ph. your hardness is nothing to be really worried about. my hardness is quite low here and my tropicals are fine. you could try taking out your piece of wood as wood lowers ph and therefore hardness but i dont know how much 1 piece of wood would be doing.

whichever way you need to get an ammonia test kit. it seems strange that you dont have one with a nitrites and nitrates each in there. look for the NH3 one

hope this helps

 

[K.J.]

You'll want to go back and get the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Liquid Test Kit. Test strips are unaccurate and you need ammonia tests as well.

 

[fishlette]

and yes everything should drop to 0 except nitrates which will indicate the end of the cycle. does not mean however that the tank is mature

also, with your nitrates NO3, 40 is the maximum it should be. well under this is much better

 

[garf3r]

fanks for everythin shall get one 2moz! any recommends? brands i mean

 

[rdd1952]

Most popular test kit by far is the American Pharmaceutical Master Test kit. The biggest problem with the 5 in 1 strips is that they don't tes for ammonia and that is THE most important thing you need to test in a new aquarium. Ammonia is extremely toxic and comes from fish waste so it is present in the tank immediatly after adding fish. By thetim you see nitrite present on your test strips, you will have already started to lose fish to ammonia poisoning.

Also, as mentioned, throw he pH adjusters away. Your pH is perfect for most all community fish and even if it isn't, most fish can easily adjust to any stable pH. The adjusters just keep the pH in constant swing between 7.0 and where the tank naturally water wants to be.