Water Analysis

[Sambo]

Hi guys, i just did some water tests on my tank and these are the results:


Ammonia =0 .6

Nitrate = 25

Nitrite = 0

General Hardiness = 6

Carbonate = 0

PH 7.6 = 0


are these tests ok? i currently have fish in the tank.

Thanks for your help

Regards

Sam

 

[Griz]

Ammonia 0.6 - It should be zero. How old is the setup? Could indicate overstocking or poor tank maintainence. A water change is in order. About 50% and retest.

Nitrate 25 - This is generally considered fine, you want to keep it under 40 for sure. Lower for sensitive fish. The water change should lower it though.

Nitrite 0 - Good that's where it should be.

GH 6 - This is medium. Depends on the fish you keep, some prefer is much higher.

KH 0 - This is a bit odd. Most water has "some" KH unless you specifically take steps to lower it.

pH 7.6 - Slightly alkaline, perfect for the majortity of fish. Depends on what you a re keeping though, some exceptions prefer it a bit higher, some need it to be acidic.

 

[CFC]

If the carbonate hardness test is correct you desperately need to add some buffer to the tank to raise this to at least 4. A KH of 0 means that your pH is dangerously unstable and can drop dramitically as organic acids and CO2 are released into the water.

Bicarbonate of soda (baking powder) will raise the KH without upsetting the rest of the water chemistry, test how much it takes to raise a litre of water to have a KH of 4 and then add the appropriate ammount to the tank in small doses over a few days to bring the tank level up. Then you will just have to remember to add a little bicarbonate of soda to the freshwater at each water change.

 

[Sambo]

So what does the KH actually do? Just affects the PH? What causes it to change in a tank? Are my readings damaging to my fish at all?

Thanks


Sam

Ammonia 0.6 - It should be zero. How old is the setup? Could indicate overstocking or poor tank maintainence. A water change is in order. About 50% and retest.


The tank is only 2 weeks old, i used Tera Safe Start when first filling the tank and added tap water conditioner also.

 

[Griz]

KH is referred to as a buffer. A higher KH prevents your pH from moving up or down, it helps to keep the pH stable which is extremely important. A KH of 0 or 1 provides very little or no buffering capacity which can lead to pH swings. Very bad for your fish. Do as CFC suggested and get your KH up to 4, that should provide enough buffer for you. Retest it first though. Are you using regular tap water? It really should have a measurable level of KH.

Regarding your ammonia, it sounds to me like your tank may still be cycling. Read up on the chemistry involved in cycling a tank and in the meantime do a water change of around 50% to get that amonia level down. Keep an eye on it as ammonia is toxic to your fish.

 

[Sambo]

Yeah it was regular tap water, then jsut added water conditioner and Safe Start. i will do as you say and do a 50% water change this weekend.

Apart form baking powder is thwere anything else i can do to raise the KH? For example anything in any local aquatics stores?

Cheers

Sam

P.S how do i reply to someone with their quote being in my reply, i tried chicking on quote but it didnt do anything.

 

[andywg]

Nitrate 25 - This is generally considered fine, you want to keep it under 40 for sure. Lower for sensitive fish. The water change should lower it though.

25ppm is more than fine. Many people on this site don't even have a tap level as low as 40. The only scientific evidence I have seen on nitrates shows 100ppm is the level at which marine fish start to show long term problems (not short term). Marine fish are considered more succeptible to water quality as a result of their osmoregulation system, so it is a fair guide to use on FW fish.

 

[Griz]

This is an area where I have seen conflicting opinions. Many reputable sources recommend keeping Nitrate levels below 40 ppm. When dealing with sensitive fish or fry, even lower levels are preferable. Some keepers of fish such as discus or apistogramma advocate keeping nitrate below 20 ppm. In nature, nitrate levels are generally near zero. I have no trouble keeping my tanks under 20 and the one with live plants stays around 10. Perhaps I'm blessed with good water; nitrates are barely detectable out of the tap.

This is why I reccomend keeping Nitrates under 40ppm, and ideally half that.

edit: This may be topic that is deserving of it's own thread (if there hasn't been some already) I'm just going by what I've read and sticking with the lower numbers.

 

[J.H]

Yeah it was regular tap water, then jsut added water conditioner and Safe Start. i will do as you say and do a 50% water change this weekend.

You should really try and get rid of the ammonia (ammonia is toxic) by doing a water change now! it will affect you fishes health and immune system.

 

[andywg]

This is an area where I have seen conflicting opinions. Many reputable sources recommend keeping Nitrate levels below 40 ppm. When dealing with sensitive fish or fry, even lower levels are preferable. Some keepers of fish such as discus or apistogramma advocate keeping nitrate below 20 ppm. In nature, nitrate levels are generally near zero. I have no trouble keeping my tanks under 20 and the one with live plants stays around 10. Perhaps I'm blessed with good water; nitrates are barely detectable out of the tap.

This is why I reccomend keeping Nitrates under 40ppm, and ideally half that.

edit: This may be topic that is deserving of it's own thread (if there hasn't been some already) I'm just going by what I've read and sticking with the lower numbers.

You are indeed blessed with very good water. I would have to have a 200% water change a day system to get my nitrates down to around 45ppm as the tap is 40ppm. However I can go a couple of weeks without water changes and there is no problem.

The point about a target nitrate level comes up fairly frequently. The only research I have found on the effects of nitrates on fish is Nitrate toxicity to five species of marine fish by Pierce, RH; Weeks, JM; and Prappas, JM reported in Journal of the World Aquaculture Society. Vol. 24, no. 1, pp. 105-107. 1993 in which it is pointed out that earlier tests have shown that prolonged exposure to nitrates over 100 ppm may be detrimental to fish.

Some recommend keeping FW rays in nothing more than 10ppm nitrates, yet CFC manages quite well with tap water around 40ppm.

I think some people over rely on the accuracy of nitrate test kits as most seem to give random results at the best of times (I had two samples of the same water at the same time register different by 160ppm).

Now if anyone can find any other scientific research or papers on nitrates and fish health I would be happy to see it, but until then I shall continue to point out that scientific research indicates keeping nitrates at zero to be less than essential.

 

[woogrl]

To raise the KH without raising the GH, add sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3), commonly known as baking soda. 1/2 teaspoon per 100 Liters raises the KH by about 1 dH. Sodium bicarbonate drives the pH towards an equilibrium value of 8.2.
I got this off of a website so I hope it helps if you want to raies the KH. I personally would be afraid to raise the KH this way becasue at the LFS i work at we use baking soda to euthanize fish, granted we use 1/4 cup baking soda per 1 cup water but it just makes me nervouse to tell someone to raise it this way.

Yeah it was regular tap water, then jsut added water conditioner and Safe Start. i will do as you say and do a 50% water change this weekend.

Apart form baking powder is thwere anything else i can do to raise the KH? For example anything in any local aquatics stores?

Cheers

Sam

P.S how do i reply to someone with their quote being in my reply, i tried chicking on quote but it didnt do anything.

Just click the reply but next to the quote box

 

[Sambo]

[/quote]
Just click the reply but next to the quote box
[/quote]


ok i clicked reply and did not click quote, has it worked?

it didnt work ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

 

[Griz]

ok i clicked reply and did not click quote, has it worked?

it didnt work ahhhhhhhhhhhhh

Click on the Quote button first. It will turn red. Then click the reply button.

 

[Griz]

Now if anyone can find any other scientific research or papers on nitrates and fish health I would be happy to see it, but until then I shall continue to point out that scientific research indicates keeping nitrates at zero to be less than essential.

Here you go:
The entire paper "Nitrate Toxicity to aquatic animals: A review with new data for freshwater invertebrates" may be found here

Freshwater animals appear to be more sensitive to nitrate than marine animals.

and

..a nitrate concentration of 10mg NO3-N/l US Federal maximum level for drinking water) can adversly affect, at least during long-tem exposures, freshwater invertebrates...

And in this article http/www.ec.gc.ca/ceqg-rcqe/English/Html...Nitrate_WQG.cfm
the recommended levels of nitrate are lower for freshwater life (13 ppm) than for marine life (16 ppm) indicating that the former is more sensitive to nitrate exposure and recommending levels only slightly higher than those for drinking water in the US.

 

[andywg]

The second link is advice from an authority, not a research paper, so I will not deal with that. After all , most authorities say chloramines are worse for the aquarium than chlorine, whereas research posted by bignose suggest it is actually beneficial to the filter colony.

The first link relates to FW inverts being more susceptible than SW inverts. It is my understanding that most inverts do not osmoregulate, but are osmotic conformists like hagfish, whereby their internal salt content is the same as that of the water they are in. The notable exception appears to be the molluscs who have evolved kidneys. As a result of this they are not performing the osmoregulation functions of marine fishes that are required to keep the internal salt levels lower than that of the water around them.

It is well known that inverts are not great with nitrates, hence why FOWLR tanks usually have higher nitrates than reefs, the lower level is just not necessary. Many keep fish marine perfectly well in nitrates of 60-80ppm.

I have not read the entirety of the research paper but I perused the area dealing with fish and it seems to show that nitrate levels affect young fry and eggs in relation to the growth rate and chemicals found in the bloodstream, but the lowest figure I found in adult fish was 96ppm and a number of the fish can tolerate levels above 1,000 ppm.