Water Testing

[Kitt0704]

Hi! I am new to the forum. I have a new fish tank......it's been a few years since I have had one. It's a 72 gallon bow front tank. It's beautiful. I decided to go for fresh water even though I wanted a saltwater due to my travel schedule. My question is can you recommend the best way to test the tank water. Not impressed with the strips. I have taken a couple of samples to a fish store but would like to do it at home. The tank is just a week old. We have 9 barbs and 6 small cichlids. They all seem very happy and get along well. We went through a couple of days of cloudy water but has been clear since then. The lady at the fish store thinks it is not ready for anymore fish as it has to "crash" first and I might lose some fish. Ugh! I don't want to lose any of my sweet ones! We are feeding them 2-3 times a day. Have been reading all I can to learn. Love finding a forum. Thanks for your imput!

 

[Mowbz]

Sorry someone hasnt replied sooner, you may have already found out by now, about this "crash" you have coming up.

Ive never heard it called a crash, but can only liken it to the feeling you get when you realise youve got a tank full of fish, and nothing to keep it alive. Which is unfortunately what you've got.

You need to read up so ill make this quick;

Head to the Beginners Resource Centre and read up on Fish IN Cycling. (Link in my signature below)
Pay particular attention to the "Nitrogen Cycle" part, this is vital to your fish staying alive.
Get a test kit, a liquid based one for Ammonia, Nitrite and pH as a minimum at the moment. (Nitrate as well if poss)

To provide any help we'll need;

Tank Dimensions and Volume,
Full list of stock with full names (Which Cichlids?)
Latest water tests (NUMERICAL, "fine" isnt a measurement!)


and

....i hope you like buckets of water ;D

 

[fluttermoth]

We normally recommend the API master test kit. It has all the basic tests you need (pH, ammonia, nitrite and nitrate) and is accurate enough for most hobbyist's needs. The Salifert kits are more accurate, but have to be bought separately and are more expensive.

As you're new(ish) to the hobby, and have a new tank, can I recommend you have a look at the articles in our beginner's resource centre? The link is in my sig, and you'll want to read up on 'fish-in cycles' (which is what you're doing right now) and the nitrogen cycle especially.

Good luck, and to the forum

 

[doresy]

Repeat all the above ^^^^^^

You'll need to be doing DAILY partial water changing and water testing (for ammonia)

Check out this test kit, it's used and recommended by many on this forum...... TEST KIT

 

[Prime Ordeal]

The lady at the fish store thinks it is not ready for anymore fish as it has to "crash" first and I might lose some fish.

Don't you just despair of the callousness and incompetence of some fish store staff!

 

[littlenemo]

im with you prime. there all stupid at the local fish shop. mine did not even no about cycling laughed my head off. learnt so much of all the people on here cheers guys

 

[doresy]

im with you prime. there all stupid at the local fish shop. mine did not even no about cycling laughed my head off. learnt so much of all the people on here cheers guys

Of course LFS's know about Cycling (what it means and how to do it) but unfortunately there is a vast difference between fish keeping and SELLING fish keeping.

WE know (and they do too) that to cycle a tank (filter) all we need is a bottle of ammonia solution costing £1.99 from Homebase and an API Master (water testing) Kit costing £14.99 from Amazon. Oh and a bottle of dechlorinator from them for a tenner.

From a commercial view they need to make money from you so they wont stock ammonia, much better to sell you a bottle of useless 'Cycle' for a tenner or more. Dechlorinator (no problem there) and a testing kit for £30 or more! Then they might allow you to get fish after a week or so which will soon either require replacing due to deaths or need the purchase of expensive disease remedies caused by stress of ammonia etc.

Ok ok that's not ALL lfs's but you can see my point that like everything in the commercial world they are there primarily to make money.......

 

[Prime Ordeal]

an API Master (water testing) Kit costing £14.99 from Amazon.

I got all exited when I saw that price...looked it up and there's six quid shipping...D'OH!

 

[Autonerd]

Hi! I am new to the forum. I have a new fish tank......

Welcome from another newbie!!

I started with a fish-in cycle on a small (15g US) tank and three fish. Two died, so rather than get more fish I took the remaining one back and switched to a fishless cycle. Doing a fish-in cycle requires a LOT of water changes, while a fishless requires a LOT of patience. Patience is easier.

Unfortunately, there's no way around this. You have to grow a colony of bacteria to process your fishies' waste products.

Hopefully you can keep your little guys alive, but if they start to die off, I would strongly suggest returning the fish and going the fishless route. It'll take 4-8 weeks but then you'll have a healthy environment for your fish and less frustration for you!

Aaron