I GOT IT!

[lonelyneon]

After about a month of pain and tormoil my ammonia levels have reached the beloved 0!!
...now what? I have lost 12 fish and a snail and I know its still kinda early but when I do add new fish what shall I add?
Is there anything that I am skipping?

 

[Fishy89]

how big is ur tank?

 

[sinistral]

Congrats on the Ammonia~ Have you checked nitrItes? I would recommend waiting until those read zero before getting more fish...

 

[G_Sharky]

I agree with sinistral. You should check everything including NitrItes and Nitrates to see if their on right level. Wait about a week before adding fish and do it slowly..

 

[lonelyneon]

I have a 10 gallon tank and I don't have a nitrite tester but i'm trying my best to get one. I have a few questions though,
What's better test strips or water testers?
Whats the best tester brand out there, in your opinion?
and
How the hell do I find a nitrate tester??? I looked on the petsmart website and all i saw was like ammonia, PH, nitrites, and something like carbonate hardness. Do I need all the other types of tests that they put on there?
As soon as I get a chance I'm going to get a fish help book... my friend has one I can steal hopefully.
Thank you for all your help!
Ammonia = 0!! ^.^
Nitrites = ??
Nitrates = ??
PH = 6.6

 

[thecichlidaddict]

The most important tests are Ammonia and nitrites. If your water has 0 ammonia and nitrites then you know the nitrates are rising anyway.

PH is good to keep an eye on at first. GH doesn't matter, and KH only really matters if you are keeping alkaline specific fish.

It doesn't really matter what test you go with, they all do the job, and we don't need perfectl accuracy anyway. I like the Aquarium Pharmiceutical tests, I find them reliable.

 

[lonelyneon]

Yeah your right the nitrite is 10ppm. What do I do to get it down?
10 gal tank w/ one red wag platy, one golden gourami, and one white skirt tetra
ammonia = 0 ppm
Nitrites = 10 ppm
nitrates = ??
hardness = 120 ppm
ph = about 6.8
I also got a betta bowl today and I hope to get one... I saw them at the store and fell in love. So I need to read up on that

 

[sinistral]

Yeah your right the nitrite is 10ppm. What do I do to get it down?

Hi lonelyneon,

Your water readings I think indicate that your tank is still cycling. The first kind of bacterial colony has grown in and is converting ammonia to nitrItes as rapidly as it is being produced. This is great! However, the second kind of bacterial colony (the one that converts nitrItes to nitrAtes) is still developing.

I would do a water change of something like 30% (or perhaps more, that nitrIte reading is pretty high) and hold off on feeding the fish for now. Tomorrow I'd retest ammonia and nitrItes and make another decision depending on what reading you get. How do the fish look?

 

[lonelyneon]

Well this morning they looked great... but now they look alittle lack luster... but i dunno...