Will Bottled Tank Water Test Ok?

[Soliquid]

Hi guys, I want to get my tank water tested at this place where I plan to get some fish for my new tank that has been cycling now for a while. I plan to bottle up some tank water in an evian bottle, freeze/refrigerate it and then bring me to work. That way, when I finish work I can go straight to the fish shop and get it tested there.

Would that be ok? Would the ammonia/nitrate/nitrite levels change if I bottle it up and fridge it to keep its 'freshness'?

The reason behind this is that even though I have a rudimentary test kit at home (only test for ammonia and PH), I want to get a proper test done at the shop, and then invest in a better kit. in the meantime though, I want to find out what is killing my school of tetra's! I got them a few days ago, and my readings were good apart from the PH which was reading 8.

I have been doing 30% water changes daily to try and bring the PH down and popped a few plants in there and drift wood. I really hope that I am doing the right thing!

 

[ibbledibble]

The reason behind this is that even though I have a rudimentary test kit at home (only test for ammonia and PH), I want to get a proper test done at the shop, and then invest in a better kit. in the meantime though, I want to find out what is killing my school of tetra's! I got them a few days ago, and my readings were good apart from the PH which was reading 8.

I have been doing 30% water changes daily to try and bring the PH down and popped a few plants in there and drift wood. I really hope that I am doing the right thing!

if your test kit only shows ammonia and ph, its possible that your problem is nitrite since this can also kill fish.
and unless you are adding some kind of ph adjuster such as phdown then doing water changes will make no difference to your ph. test the water from your tap and see what the ph of that is. if its 8 then your ph is not gonna change. but keep doing the water changes as this will help with the nitite if this is causing a problem. also are you using a declorinator when you do your water changes?

 

[rdd1952]

The quick answer to your question is yes, you can bottle it and take it in. I wouldn't worry about freshness. Simply fill the bottle when you get ready to go to the store. Chilling it couls have some effect since temperature also has an effect on the toxicity of ammonia. Depending on the test kit they use, the reading for ammonia could definitely be skewed to the low side.

Instead though, I would suggest getting a good liquid master test kit so you can test on your own. It is extremely hard to cycle a tank when you can't test. What is your reading for ammonia? If it's anything other than 0 then that is most likely the reason your tetras are dying. Even a trace amount of ammonia becomes very toxic at a pH level in th 8s. As mentioned, nitrite could also be the problem. The answers to few questions would help.

How long has the tank be set up?

How many fish do you have (or did you have)?

What type test kit do you have, liquid or strips? Strips are terribly inaccurate.

What is the ph of your tap water?

What type decorations and gravel/sand do you have? Some can raise the pH.

As mentioned, if your tap pH is near the same as the tank pH, it isvery unlikely that anything you put in the tank will help lower the pH. Water changes definitely won't have any effect. The buffering capacity is high and it wil take a lot to lower it to the point that anything can have an effect on the pH.

 

[Soliquid]

Thanks - I should really buy a test kit instead of bottling up the water and have it sitting in the office all day, skewing the results. I am a bit disappointed about my dead tetra's (6 out of 10, RIP), that's the price of being too confident in my old test kit I suppose.

How long has the tank be set up? It's been cycling for two weeks.

How many fish do you have (or did you have)? I had 10 tetras in my 4ft tank, now I have 4.. I also put two bristlenose algae eaters in there. There isn't much algae in the tank so they have been nibbling on the odd sunken sera flora flakes that sink to the bottom.

What type test kit do you have, liquid or strips? Strips are terribly inaccurate. That explains part of it, mine are strips, can't remember the brand though.

What is the ph of your tap water? I tested it to be somewhere between the 7 and 8 colour range

What type decorations and gravel/sand do you have? Some can raise the pH. I brought brand new gravel, its blue tainted (non toxic of course), and I have two plants in there, 2 bits of driftwood from the fish store, and a shipwreck centrepiece which actually looks pretty cool when the tetras weave through it.