Water quality check , can anyone read this?

[snailaquarium]

Hi

So is bought this testing kit but I have no instructions with it.

 

[Guppy10]

To me, you have no nitrates, no nitrites, no chlorine, I may be quessing but is this tap water ?? Ph ok. What's the ammonia ? You need a test on that as well if tank water, if it is, then you should at least have a reading for nitrate. More info on the water would help.

 

[snailaquarium]

tap water, from east anglia

 

[Colin_T]

NO3 is nitrate.
mg/L is milligrams per litre and that is the same as ppm (parts per million).
The nitrates appear to be 0mg/L or 0ppm.

NO2 is nitrite.
The nitrites appear to be 0mg/L too.

The next bit looks like general hardness and is measured in dGH (German scale). It is more than 7dGH but less than 14dGH.
7dGH = 125ppm GH, which is soft water. Your GH is between 125 and 250ppm.

The next one is carbonate hardness (KH) and it is around 6dGH (about 108ppm).

The pH is under that and is around 6.6 - 6.8. (slightly acid). 7.0 is neutral.

The last one is chlorine, which is 0 and that is fine.

Overall you appear to have soft slightly acid water with no nitrite or nitrate. However, the test does not include ammonia and that is more toxic than nitrite or nitrate.

 

[Essjay]

What make is it, the instructions may be on-line somewhere. With different brands you have to wait different times before comparing the strip to the chart.

 

[snailaquarium]

eSHa Aqua Quick Test

- 6 in 1 Test Strip Use this multiple test (6 values per strip) for an economical, practical, and user friendly way of determining your water quality (50 strips per tube). PH 6.4-8.4 (KH > 3&ord

www.eshalabs.eu

 

[Essjay]

Click on the "product information" in red on that page and you'll get a pdf of the instruction leaflet.

 

[snailaquarium]

Hi,

What about this one compared to the other one?

This houses a baby shrimp

 

[Colin_T]

nitrate is about 10

nitrite is 0

GH is more than 14 dGH and less than 21 dGH.

KH is about 6 dGH

pH is about 6.8

chlorine 0

 

[snailaquarium]

How does the nitrate indicator work? I can't figure out why there are three rows with the same colours on each? why doesn't it have three different types of reading on each for varying values? Is the water good?

 

[Essjay]

There aren't three rows for nitrate.

According to the instructions (which I found on eSHa's website), this is the order of tests on the strip

The first two are nitrate and nitrite.
Nitrate has colours clear to dark pink. Yours looks to be around 10 to 25.
Next is nitrite, colours clear to reddish pink. Yours looks to be zero.

Then there is a gap then 3 more squares. These are GH. The instructions say

"Measurement:
- none of the GH test squares are purple: GH lower than 6
- one of three GH test squares purple: GH more than 7
- two of three GH test squares purple: GH more than 14
- three of three GH test squares purple: GH more than 21"

and

"One fully coloured square plus a second square that is faintly or partially coloured indicates a GH of about 10."

What looks like 3 rows is actually 4 columns and you have to match the 3 squares on the strip to one of the columns. The columns are:
3 greeny blue = less than 6 dH
1 purple and 2 greeny blue = more than 7 dH
2 purple and 1 greeny blue = over 14 dH
3 purple = over 21 dH

You have one purple, one partially purple and one greeny blue. According to the instructions, that means 10 dH.


The next 2 are KH and pH.
KH colours go from a sort of beigey colour to black. Yours is hard to tell from the photo, but looks to be somewhere around 6 to 10 dH. The instructions say that an intermediate colour means an intermediate level.
pH colours are orange to pink. Yours is orange so somewhere around 7.2. Again a shade between two colours means a number between those 2 colours.


Finally a single square - chlorine. The colours are yellow to brown, yours looks like zero.



The instructions also say
"Instructions
1 With dry hands remove one eSHa Aqua-Quick-Teststrip from container and close container immediately.
Do not touch test squares with your fingers.
2 Dip test strip for one second in aquarium or pond water. All test squares on the strip should be immersed.
3 Gently shake any remaining water off test strip. Do this with one quick shake.
4 Chlorine: Compare the colour of the Chlorine field immediately with the colour on the container.
5 Compare the remaining colours on the test strip after 60 seconds with the colour chart on the container.
6 Write down the values measured and other relevant data (date, time, place and water temperature) in the record of measurements included with these instructions.
7 If necessary, take steps to restore the water quality in your aquarium or pond."


So chlorine should be read immediately, everything else after 60 seconds



Note:

All copied and pasted items are from eSHa's website, in the instructions found by clicking on the product information link in red on this page https://www.eshalabs.eu/europe/products/esha-aqua-quick-test.html

 

[seangee]

The 3 rows are for GH. Row 1 is not green so its more than 7dGH
Row 2 is not green so its more than 14dGH
Row 3 is green so its less than 21 dGH
Yors is between 14 & 21

There is no good or bad for hardness - it depends on what you keep. Your water is hard so that should inform what fish are suitable for your tank.

 

[Essjay]

As seangee was posting I was editing my post to add more information.

The GH part is the most complicated thing I've ever seen. To state it again, they are not three rows, they are four columns.
You look at the colours of the 3 squares on the strip and match them to one of the four columns. If, like snailaqurarium's strip, the middle square isn't fully purple but has some greeny blue mixed in then this sentence applies

"One fully coloured square plus a second square that is faintly or partially coloured indicates a GH of about 10"


It took me quite a while to figure that out.

 

[snailaquarium]

Oh I forgot about the site, thanks for explainingg this. I went onto a website and it suggested my water is a little harder than desired, but the ph is ok, but it doesnt mention anything about nitrites or nitrates.

 

[Essjay]

As seengee said, there is no 'correct' level for GH, KH and pH; they vary with fish species. If you keep fish that need GH 10 dH, then your water is perfect for them. But it is too hard for fish that need very soft water and too soft for fish that need very hard water.

Nitrite should always be zero and nitrate under 20 ppm. There is no ammonia tester on the strip but that also needs to be zero.

if you read the strip after 60 seconds you'll get more accurate results.