Water Test Readings; Pics

[fishtanksmomma]

My daughter's fish is sick so I am doing daily water changes in a quaratine tank and plan on starting a fishless tank cycle soon. In the meantime, I am in the process of doing a fish-in cycle with my son's betta. Today is the first day I tested his water. I took a few pictures in different lighting. Not sure which is the best one to read. After I tested the water, I did a 25% water change (just a guestimate). Is there anything else I should do? Can someone, read the test numbers for me.? The first picture was taken in the bathroom with a flash.



The second picture was taken in the bathroom without a flash.

The last picture was taken in natural sunlight with a flash.

 

[pablothebetta]

You seem to be doing the right thing with the cycle. The pictures are tricky to read, they're a little small and the angle doesn't make the numbers too clear. Are you able to get another pic?

 

[Amanita.m]

For a fish in cycle, u need to keep a little ammonia (which is why fish in cycles are tough on fish) try not to let ammonia readings go above .25ppm (a quarter of 1 ppm). Even that can irritate fish, so using prime can help there, it temporarily detoxifies ammonia till the bacteria can use it. Each dose will last a day or 2. Also, not going above a PH of 7 can help with that too. U are also going to want to keep your nitrite levels under .25ppm. Nitrites are also very toxic to fish. Nitrates should be kept below 40ppm. Less toxic but you don't want them building up too high. The amount of water u need to change can be worked out by percentage, if your ammonia or nitrite are .50ppm, u would need a 50% water change to get it to .25ppm.
I'd go a little further tho to give u some leeway, toxins can build up fast, esp in smaller tanks. So I'd change maybe 65-70%. Of course if your readings are higher than that, u will want to change as much as needed to get down to safe parameters. When I was cycling during a fish-in cycle,
I tested the water 2x a day in a 5 gallon, the ammonia kept creeping up and I was frantic trying to keep the 6 Neons I had safe. I didn't lose any and the cycle took about 3 weeks. For a fishless cycle u needn't be quite as precise, so I find that method much preferred and easier on the fish. A fish-in cycle takes a bit of work...but after u are done u will have a clean-up crew of bacteria to help u keep the tanks clean. I test my tanks maybe once a week now, and change 30-50% of the water once a week and they seem to be maintaining well.
Best of luck to u!

 

[fishtanksmomma]

Thanks. Sorry about the picture. I'll try and post a better one with todays. I just want to make sure I'm reading the levels right. I think the amonia and nitrite read at .25 & the ph was 7.6. The nitrate was between 20-30.

 

[fishtanksmomma]

Hi! I tested the water again, for the tank with a fish-in cycle, today and here were the results;

Ph- 7.2
Ammonia- .50
Nitrite- 1.0
NitrAte- 5.0

So I did a 50% water change. I didn't have enough prepared water to do any more. I retested and got this:

Ph- 7.2
Ammonia- .25
Nitrite- .25
NitrAte- between 0 - 5.0

Should I have waited a little to retest the water or are these accurate readings? I am going to prepare enough water tonight incase I have to do a larger water change tomorrow.

Thanks in advance.

 

[fishtanksmomma]

Hi! I tested the water again, for the tank with a fish-in cycle, today and here were the results;

Ph- 7.2
Ammonia- .50
Nitrite- 1.0
NitrAte- 5.0

So I did a 50% water change. I didn't have enough prepared water to do any more. I retested and got this:

Ph- 7.2
Ammonia- .25
Nitrite- .25
NitrAte- between 0 - 5.0

Should I have waited a little to retest the water or are these accurate readings? I am going to prepare enough water tonight incase I have to do a larger water change tomorrow.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Amanita.m]

It doesn't take long for the new water to mix with the old when u have a filter, if u wait maybe 1/2 an hour after a water change that should be plenty of time for almost any filter in a smallish tank. And yes it's a good idea, esp at the start of the cycle process to always have more prepared water than u think u will need, ammonia and nitrites can creep up pretty fast. After u have tested a few times, u will get the hang of it, and be able to tell at a glance, under good lighting, where u are and how much water u will need to change. As the good bacteria build, u will see the ammonia go down first, then nitrites, and the nitrates will increase. Then u can relax a bit and just maintain. As long as u don't overstock, u should be able to coast with a manageable routine that isn't too stressful for u or the fish. Hang in there, u are doing good!

 

[OldMan47]

Don't worry too much about the pictures fishtanksmomma.
I find that my most reliable tests are the ones that I read with light coming over my shoulder from a well lit sunny window. Those tests give me something that I can rely on for a cycle. Hold the tube flat against the white part of the card and read the center of the test tube against the color chart. You may not get the perfect reading that way but it will be consistent for you. Flash or no flash makes little difference to me because a camera will always give results based on the camera's settings, not necessarily the real world. Each camera manufacturer has its own settings that it uses to process the raw data from a digital picture. That processing can throw off colors immensely. That means it is always better to see the colors live in the real world, not the picture world.