Water Test (Newby)

[danieljdavies]

Helloo,

Just did my first water test after about 3/4 weeks of a fishless cycle. Halfway through the cycle i was given a used filter and also half a tank of water from a used fishtank, both from a friend, so this helped speed up the cycle. So the new fulter has been running for a week or 2.

The results are below, using a Nutrafin water testing kit

PH - 6.8
NO3 - 3
NO2 - 0.2
Ammonia 0.7

should i expect the ammonia to drop over the next week? i know the ph is slightly high. maybe because i added some new water today??
Im hoping its coming to the end of cycle. i will do another test tomorrow


cheers
Dan

 

[fluttermoth]

How high have you been dosing the ammonia?

A pH of 6.8 is fine for most fish, and it's not low enough to stall your cycle, so I wouldn't worry about that

 

[danieljdavies]

Hi,

I havent touched ammonia since the first week as I was given the filter and water from a matured tank. Its been cycling for 2 weeks with the new water in. a total of around month since the start.

My readings for today are:


PH - 6.0
NO3 - 4
NO2 - 0.2
Ammonia 0.9

compared to yesterdays readings of:


PH - 6.8
NO3 - 3
NO2 - 0.2
Ammonia 0.7


They all seem to be going up very slightly, except the ph which fell a lot from 6.9 to 6


thanks
dan

 

[Aqua Tom]

Have you been dosing ammonia since you have been given the mature media?

 

[danieljdavies]

Have you been dosing ammonia since you have been given the mature media?

no mate i havent. i was told to leave it cycle

 

[fluttermoth]

You need to be either dosing with 'pure' household ammonia or be putting something (fish food, for instance) to rot down and produce the ammonia that way for the bacteria to feed on, or they'll just die.

Hopefully, because you've got a trace of ammonia in there, the bacteria you got in your donation won't have died off, but you do need to add something for them to eat.

 

[Aqua Tom]

Bacteria are just like any other lifeform as in they need to eat to survive., the food they eat is ammonia.

You need to be dosing with liquid ammonia or fishfood.

Tom

 

[danieljdavies]

cheers tom

I did a 30% water change and left it for 2 days. just did another test and the results of my water are:

ph: 5.9
nitrate: 6
nitrite: 0.2
ammonia: 0.5

From my previous results 2 days ago the ammonia has dropped nearly half since the water change. the nitrite has stayed the same. The nitrate has crept up slightly.

Should i still feed it ammonia or fish food? if so how much

any feedback on what i shoudl do next would be great ,


cheers
dan

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

There is no need to be doing water changes. Water changes are there to remove nitrates and any other bad stuff when fish are in the tank.

You need to dose ammonia to the amount of 4ppm. I can't remember the website, where there is a calculator on how much you need to dose.

Have a read through the beginners section. There is a great thread there that has all the info on how to do a fish-less cycle.

 

[Miles_hot]

the begineers section has the calculator

 

[danieljdavies]

added some ammonia 9.5% (2ml) as instructed

left it a day and a half then tested the water again

ph: 6.5 (increase in 0.6 from previous test)
nitrate: 10 (increase in 4.0 from previous test)
nitrite: 0.5 (increase in 0.3 from previous test)
ammonia: 2.5 (increase in 2.0 from previous test)

 

[danieljdavies]

Helloo

Been adding 3ppm ammonia for the last few days and recording the results.
put them in excel into a graph below. any feedback on what looks like its happening and what to do next?


http/tinypic.com/r/jq2k20/7


thanks

dan

 

[Smells a bit fishy]

Looking good, also looks really good on a chart

The nitrates are going up because you have started processing the nitrite that the a-bacs are producing.

I would up the dosing of ammonia to 4-5ppm. Also is your ph about 6-7? I would up that using bicarbonate soda to about 8.

Other than that your doing good

 

[danieljdavies]

thanks mate