Tropical Tank Tests

[Dave Spencer]

Also pH helps judge how much CO2 there is in your water from a CO2 system...

Only when used with a drop checker that has a fluid of a known dKH. Otherwise, there are too many other factors in the aquarium affecting the pH.

...and can give a gross indication of KH.

I`m not sure what you mean by gross, but once again there are too many other factors in the tank affecting the pH to use it for measuring KH.

Otherwise, IMO, a lot of what pH is expected to show is really a function of GH but is not often recognized as such.

Possibly because this is not the case. GH is a measurement of Ca and Mg ions. I see what you are saying, but it is possible to have water with a high GH, but low KH (alakalinity).

I hate test kits because they are so general in what they measure. Hobby KH test kits don`t even measure the KH. All kits can give is an indication of a general trend, unless they are peoperly calibrated. Even then, we all mess up when taking the samples and readings.

I used test kits on my first ever tank, which give me the rough indication that a high light tank full of fast growing plants uses circa 5ppm of nitrates per day. Now I just observe my fish, plants and algae to give me a far more accurate (and confusing) idea of what is going on. For instance, my plants will tell me if nitrates are low, irrespective of what a kit says. BBA and staghorn algae tell me where the CO2 is low far more accurately than pH probes etc. I have even started to take the CO2 drop checkers out of my tanks as well.

I am going to put my head on the chopping block and state from my own experiences that the kits we use are a total watse of money! Buy something useful instead.

Dave.

Dave.

 

[OldMan47]

Like Dave, I don't do a lot of testing. The only thing I really measure very often is the TDS in my soft water tanks and my tap water. To keep the water soft for the fish I mix RO and tap water and I want a reasonably accurate indication so that I can get proportions right. If I see a problem in a tank that I don't already understand, I will break out the test kit and start piecing together the evidence using a master test kit and a GH / KH test kit. The TDS meter also helps me put the story together and choose a course of action. The action is almost always a water change but the kit does guide me a bit as far as how much to change.

 

[Buddy33]

simple english mate whats TDS, RO??

 

[bronzecat]

Hi Buddy

I wouldn't be overly concerned with tests, other than Ammonia, nitrIte and nitrAte for starters.

Trying to alter things like Ph is a delicate procedure and IMO its more important that you become familiar with the basic tests first

I would say to the guys talking about RO, TDS and Ph, lets not over complicate things for Buddy at this point

P.s. I'd change my lfs if they gave me advise like yours did

 

[OldMan47]

TDS is total dissolved solids, it is a measure of how much mineral content there is in the water. RO is reverse osmosis, it is a way to remove almost all of the impurities in water and get something a lot like distilled water. Like Bronzecat said, the basic tests are still ammonia, nitrite and nitrate until you get things settled in the tanks and get a feel for how much routine maintenance to do on your tank, with your fish load in it.

 

[waterdrop]

Like Dave S. and OM47, I have come to feel that observation of my fish, plants and just knowing what I've done or not done to my tank are as powerful or more powerful than my test kit. Any beginner who bothers to learn various basics here on TFF and observes their tank carefully can develop this skill too I believe.

The test kits, however, are a really good learning tool for the first few years and a good emergency checkup tool for any aquarist I think. Using a good test kit and interacting here on TFF was definately the thing that helped me understand nitrification and cycling in a way that will stay with me from now on. And like OM47, I still expect to use ammonia, nitrite and nitrate tests to verify or tell me various things and I am currently quite actively using GH and KH tests to help me deal with my soft acid water.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Buddy33]

TFF??

 

[Truck]

TFF??

Tropical Fish Forums

 

[waterdrop]

TFF??

Tropical Fish Forums

Thanks truck and sorry Buddy, yes, its an acronym we use for the forums here and those of us posting a lot fall into this shortcut sometimes, not very thoughtful of newcomers.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[Mikey55]

I am also fairly new here but from what i have collected from the information from various pet stores and websites is... # 1 high ammonia will most definatly kill your fish if not treated... new tanks are prone to high ammonia because they haven't been "cycled" which really mean that you have no "good" bacteria in your filter yet which eat the ammonia and convert it to ( not 100% if this is true but nitrite) another major fish killer which again resides to your filter which is in turn turned into nitrate... nitrate is bad for fish but will stay in check with weekly water changes anywhere from (10%-20%) i personally do roughly 15%.. since your filter doesn't really necesarilly get rid of all the toxins it just converts them into the less deadliest one out of the 3 nitrate which is really mostly removed by doing water changes! so if you keep up your water changes and have a good filter media then you shouldn't have a problem!

oh i forgot ammonia is from fish dropping and urine and rotting fish or food so make sure to siphon up most of it with your water change!

some people also put beneficial bacteria in the tank too which helps your filter and keeps the ammonia down!!

not an expert so feel free to correct me where i am wrong!

 

[waterdrop]

I am also fairly new here but from what i have collected from the information from various pet stores and websites is... # 1 high ammonia will most definatly kill your fish if not treated... new tanks are prone to high ammonia because they haven't been "cycled" which really mean that you have no "good" bacteria in your filter yet which eat the ammonia and convert it to ( not 100% if this is true but nitrite) another major fish killer which again resides to your filter which is in turn turned into nitrate... nitrate is bad for fish but will stay in check with weekly water changes anywhere from (10%-20%) i personally do roughly 15%.. since your filter doesn't really necesarilly get rid of all the toxins it just converts them into the less deadliest one out of the 3 nitrate which is really mostly removed by doing water changes! so if you keep up your water changes and have a good filter media then you shouldn't have a problem!

oh i forgot ammonia is from fish dropping and urine and rotting fish or food so make sure to siphon up most of it with your water change!

some people also put beneficial bacteria in the tank too which helps your filter and keeps the ammonia down!!

not an expert so feel free to correct me where i am wrong!

Hi Mikey and welcome to TFF!

Your first two paragraphs are pretty much correct, not bad information.

In the third paragraph, if by "put beneficial bacteria in the tank," you mean bacteria in a bottle products, members here have mostly found that to be useless. Bacteria, especially the two particular species we need, don't travel well in enclosed bottles!

The other thing I'd caution about is that its often a losing proposition to recommend -percentages- on water changes prior to knowing a bunch of details about the tap water and tank situation -- although recommending that water changes are a good thing and need to be done is good and often done here too! I think one of the interesting things many beginners here eventually learn is that often percentages can be significantly larger, assuming the source water is good, than they might have thought from more traditional advice.

~~waterdrop~~