Water Quality Levels

[ecarso10]

Hi,

I have tested our water quality and not sure if we have issue or not.

We tested phosphates, oxygen, ammonia, nitrites, pH, carbon water hardness and all in the green range so all ok.

We tested nitrates and it is too low apparently. I have searched online and read articles and everything is about nitrates being too high.

Attached is a photo of the scale. Our aquarium is the first symbol so the top line is what we are looking to be green in. Our text shows we are in the first circle which is orange instead of the second which is green. We are usually in the green range so not sure what this means

Does anyone know what it means? Is it an issue?

Thsnks,

Elizabeth

 

[Essjay]

Nitrates should be below 20 ppm and the lower the better. The only exception might be in heavily planted tanks (think jungle!)

What is the nitrate reading, I can't tell from the image?
Did you shake as instructed? Not shaking enough gives false readings.

 

[ecarso10]

Hi,

Yes I did shake as per instructions and waited the time needed. I think I’ll do it again now just to be sure.

It says less than 0,5 ppm

We usually get that very pale yellow, the second circle which is in the green range.

we don’t have any real plants. We are beginners so didn’t want to set ourselves up to fail.

However, we now been told that have the easy start plants are pretty easy and they actually help maintain the right levels so we are thinking of adding some plants that are attached to wood or rock.

This fish tank was for my dons birthday but we’re all invested now.

I joined here because we have a wee guppy who is being attacked so posted that under the emergency forum. Not sure if that’s where it was meant to go

 

[ecarso10]

*my son’s birthday

 

[Essjay]

Can I suggest you look on your water company's website for 'water quality report'. I think they have to give it by law. If you can find it, look for nitrate and see what their very expensive testing equipment says your nitrate level should be. It is possible that your tap water nitrate is virtually zero, especially in Scotland if your water is sourced from a non-agricultural region.

It is only heavily planted, hi-tech plants which might need nitrate in the water. If your nitrate really is that low, a lot of members would die for your water



Look for Java fern - there are a few different varieties - anubias (there are several species) to start with. They can be tied to the decor - I use sewing thread. After a while the roots will cling to the decor.

 

[ecarso10]

Thanks

The handbook says if it is too low “add nitrogen-containing fertilisers from JBL ProScape range.“

In the description part it says it should be kept below 30 mg/l in fresh water and 20mg/l on marine water.

it doesn’t say anything about being too low but the scale on the testing book shows arounf 30 it goes into the red range. Below 30 is green except if it is so low it’s less than 0,5 Which is orange.

It usually is at 1 which is green. We haven’t had it orange before.

Assuming it’s ok as it’s only in the orange range and not red range

 

[ecarso10]

Also thanks for the tip re the plants

 

[Essjay]

Those instructions are a bit out of date, I'm afraid. We should keep nitrate below 20 ppm in freshwater as well. There is no such thing as a nitrate that's too low. We are allowed up to 50 ppm in drinking water and a lot of the UK has tap nitrate levels of almost that high. Fish keepers in these areas have trouble getting nitrate below 20 ppm.

If you look for nitrate in your water quality report it will show whether your tap nitrate really is that low or if the tester is giving a false reading.




Other testers - mainly pH, GH and KH if your set includes those - may also give a 'good' level. With these tests there is no 'good' level, it depends on which fish are in the tank. Some fish need soft water and low pH, others need hard water and high pH. There is no general 'good' level for these three tests.

 

[ecarso10]

I have redone the test and got the same result

Also, my tank seems a little hazy. So little I can’t quite tell. It’s definitely not crystal clear but it’s not cloudy either.

Last water change was 8am yesterday morning. As you know all my levels are ok except the nitrate being low (although seems not to be an issue).

is there something else I should be testing for?

My gravel vacuum seems to have lost some of the strength of suction so have a new one arriving tomorrow. Although again my levels are ok so assume the gravel can’t be that dirty

 

[AilyNC]

How long did you have the tank before adding fish? Could the cloudy appearances be bacterial bloom?

 

[Essjay]

The only things you really need to test for are ammonia and nitrite as these are killers. They should always be zero.
Nitrate should be kept under 20 ppm, but doesn't need to be tested regularly.

The levels can be fine and still have dirty gravel. When the new siphon arrives, I suggest giving it a good clean to make sure.

 

[ecarso10]

The KH confused me. There is a CO2 table to use the KH and pH reading to get the range. It looks like it was just outside the optimal range.

I checked the water quality report. It looks like it’s 50 but not sure I’m ready in right

 

[ecarso10]

How long did you have the tank before adding fish? Could the cloudy appearances be bacterial bloom?

we have had the tank for over 2 months and last tine we added fish wasabout 3 or 4 weeks ago when we added the mollies

we previously had an algae problem (looks like we overfed) but that’s gone and has been for weeks

 

[Essjay]

Don't bother with KH and CO2. Those are for tanks which are planted like a jungle with hi-tech plants and added CO2. The calculations are to work out how much CO2 to add. Without a lot of high demand plants, you don't need CO2.

To be honest, all you need to be able to test for is ammonia, nitrite, nitrate and pH. If you have GH and KH testers, you can use those but they should not vary.
You don't need all the rest. Marine tanks do need a lot of testers but low tech, fresh water fish tanks don't need them.

 

[Essjay]

I should warn you though - the vast majority of Scotland has very soft water, though a few regions do have hard water. You have guppies and mollies which are hard water fish, and if you live in a part of Scotland with soft water they will not do well.
Have you tested your water for GH?