Water Test Results

levitric

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Wisbeck, UK
I have just performed my first water test (LFS have been doing it for me up till now)

The instructions are quite confusing, so please can someone tell me if the results are good or bad and what if anything I need to do.

PH between 7.5 and 8.0
Ammonia about 0.6
Nitrate 50
Nitrite 0
 
Tank is 96 Litre (20 Uk Gallon), it has been running 2 months and I have 6 adult Mollies, 6 Danios and about 12 tiny baby Mollies

Richard
 
If it has been running two months, I am assuming it has cycled properly.

If it has then I would want to know why my Ammonia was reading 0.6, are you overfeeding the fish or have you recently just added some fish????. With a cycled tank Ammonia and Nitrite should always be zero.

With regard to the Nitrates at 50 - this is not so toxic for your fish but I believe it is recommended to keep them as low as possible. My tap water reading of Nitrate is at 10 and I keep my tank running at 20 or less. Regular water changes will reduce the nitrate level and so will plenty of live plants.

Do you have any live plants?? :blink:

Do you do (at least) weekly water changes??? :blink:

I suggest that both would help you considerably regarding the Nitrates.

I would also suggest you do an immediate water change because of the ammonia (ammonia is very toxic to fish) you need to get that down to 0 reading.

Finally if the ammonia has shot up because of overfeeding, addition of new fish, or if your tank is not actually mature then keep an eye on your readings you may find that you will follow this with getting the ammonia down to 0 and then the nitrite's shooting up (again toxic for fish so water changes will need to be done).

Good Luck
 

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