Testing Ph Levels?

[Bleeding_Heart]

i never done this before...

the tank was my dads, but now i have it(parents are devoriced) and i have no clue how to do any of this.

any help would be awsome!


and is there anything else besides ph levels i should test for?

 

[rdd1952]

How long has the tank been set up?
When you got it, did you have to break it down and move it or did you simply take over where it was?
What size is it? If you don't know the volume, just measure lenght, width and height.
What fish are in it?

pH is actually one of the least important things to check. Too many people worry too much about it. Most fish caan easily adapt to any stable pH even if it isn't the optimum one for them.

Ammonia and nitrite are the most important as they are both toxic and should not be present in a cycled tank. You would also want to test for nitrate which is toxic but only at higher levels.

 

[Bleeding_Heart]

the tank was set up for years, thast all i know. over 18 years. but it was here for 2

yes we had to take it apart to move it.

length is 20 inches, width is 12.5, and height is 15.5. (the only measureing tape i could find was in inches)

there was at one time, tons of fish. but over the years theres only 2 bleeding hearts and 2 rosey barbs.


my dad never told me anything about testing for stuff. and i just seen that its important, so i thought i should start

 

[celaeno]

pH is actually one of the least important things to check. Too many people worry too much about it. Most fish caan easily adapt to any stable pH even if it isn't the optimum one for them.

actually, i think ph is just as important as ammonia and nitrite. i lost 2 cories due to my negligence to check the ph. there was evidently a problem of declining ph (it was 6.0 or below). now i check the ph twice a week, ammonia once every 2 weeks.

 

[Bleeding_Heart]

so how do i do these tests?

 

[rdd1952]

Unless there is some reason to suspect that your pH is a problem, I still think it is nearly irrelevant. I tested my pH a week or so ago for the first time in well over a year. I only tested it then because someone had a question about pH dropping in the tank and trying to adjust it. It was 6.8 in my 75 gallon, 6.2 in my 29 gallon (both have driftwood) and 7.2 in my 2.5 gallon (tap is 7.2). All fish are doing very well and all tanks have been running for over 2 years except the 2.5 gallon which has been about a year and a half.

As long as it's stable, most fish will easily adapt to it. When pH drops and people say they lost fish to a pH crash, I think the more likely reason is lack of oxygen. A very low pH means water with a high CO2 content and very little oxygen. I'm sure both of them play a factor but the low pH isn't the only reason.

Bleeding Heart, it depends on what type test kit you have. And it you don't have the charts, you won't be able to tell much anyway. If they are liquid tests, you fill a test tube to the mark and put in the prescribed number of drops, shake and wait a few minutes for the color to change. Then you compare it with the chart to get your reading. With strips, you dip them in and immediately remove them, wait so long and then compare them to the the chart to get your results. Strips, however, are terribly inaccurate and if the kits are old, they may not yield true results either.