Panicking!!!!

[sef]

Last night I took a second ammonia reading on our new 5 gallon tank which currently houses a single male Betta (the tank has cycled for a week). I dipped the little tube down into the tank to get the water sample just like I did the other day. After the reading on Monday, I rinsed out the tube and put it back in the box. Then later last night, after the second testing, I got to reading the warnings on the label about how dangerous the chemical is.

My worry is now this: might the tube have introduced trace amounts of the ammonia-testing solution into the water, even though it had been previously rinsed? I didn't even think of it at the time, but the SMART thing would have been to use something else to dip out the water. I was just so concerned with testing the water again that it didn't even cross my mind.

Should I have the water tested

Horatio looks fine this morning, big appetite. He seems to feel okay and is swimming around happily. I planned to do another partial water change when I get home tonight because the ammonia level was elevated slightly, but now I'm wondering if I should do more than 25% -- just to be on the safe side.

Please help!!!! I'm new to fish ownership and this has me worried to death.

Thanks,
sef

 

[Tanked]

sef,

as long as the test tube was rinsed well it should be fine. I use the same tube for testing all 4 of my tanks and have never had a problem. just be sure that it is rinsed well inside and out.


hth

Richard

 

[sef]

Thank you for letting me know! I had let water run in the tube last time to rinse it out and let the water flow over the sides as well. I feel it was rinsed pretty well, but the thought hit me about any residue in the tube. I'm just a totally fretful Betta parent, I'm afraid!

If you use the test tube in your aquariums and never had a problem, that makes me feel better. I thought maybe I wasn't supposed to put the tube in there in the first place.

Do you know of any test (like maybe just a regular drinking water test?) that might tell me for sure? I think they said the harmful ingredient was mercury, does that sound right?

Thanks again!!!!
sef

 

[cichlidmaster]

This is entirely a safe way to test, but I like to use a small eye dropper for getting water from the tank.

One more thought.....it is always a good idea rinse it prior to dipping it in the tank as well.

CM

 

[sef]

This is entirely a safe way to test, but I like to use a small eye dropper for getting water from the tank.

One more thought.....it is always a good idea rinse it prior to dipping it in the tank as well.

CM

The eye dropper idea seems to be the way to go next time, and I should have rinsed it out before using it, too. I was just focusing so much on the ammonia situation that it didn't occur to me that I should be worried about the test tube. (When you're new to these things, there is so much to try to watch out for!)

Would a test kit for drinking water tell me if anything had gotten in to the water that might be harmful? Or would the declorinator and stress coat give it a strange reading?

I just want to be sure I haven't done something that will eventually make him sick.

Thanks again,
sef

 

[cichlidmaster]

Let me ease your mind if I can..................

Even if....and this is a big if......even if some of the solution entered your tank water, it would have been such a small amount I highly doubt it would do any kind of harm to your fish.

Time to sit back and enjoy your fish and stop worrying!!

CM

 

[impur]

i use an old seringe that came with a previous test kit. The eye dropper works as well. I don't think the trace amounts will be concentrated enough in 5 gallons of water to hurt (just as CM sez)

 

[sef]

Let me ease your mind if I can..................

Even if....and this is a big if......even if some of the solution entered your tank water, it would have been such a small amount I highly doubt it would do any kind of harm to your fish.

Time to sit back and enjoy your fish and stop worrying!!

CM

Thank you !!!!!! You have definitely eased my mind!

This is my first Betta (and first aquarium), and I'm just so paranoid about doing something wrong.

I also talked to the pet store manager this morning after the shop opened, and he said the exact same thing. He said that if it would help further assuage my fears, I could do a partial or half-tank water replacement to further dilute it. But he said that the chances of a trace of it (assuming there was any) in 5 gallons hurting Horatio were very remote, and he knows many people who have tested that way for years and never had any problem.

I have definitely learned from this harrowing experience, though, and will be much, much more careful next time.

Thanks again for the reassurance!!!

 

[teknikz]

another thing is....if u got a filter running then any water impurities are picked up by the carbon arent they?

im sure thats what ive heard anyway

Tek

 

[Gabe]

My test kit came with a dropper, actually all of my tests did. I wonder why yours didn't Anyhow, I work in a lab that tests water for lots of stuff and I wash all the glassware. What you should do is tap wash with soap and water and rinse at LEAST 5 times, if not a couple more just to be sure. And as the others said, rinse the outside as well. If you don't have the time to wash it with soap, then rinse it at LEAST 5 times(I would do more) and that should take care of anything. HTH!!!

Gabe

 

[wuvmybetta]

I've read the box also and it does say some pretty scary stuff about the ammonia solution, I kinda freaked out too about it
BUT more so than your beloved betta ,watch out for YOURSELF, I treat the ammonia test stuff like a highly toxic poison and wash, wash & wash my hands again after using it