Chem test results; Now What?

[RacerX]

Hi there,

New user to this forum, would like to say "hey" to you all!

Here's the deal,,,

I've had a 10 gal. tank for about 1 1/2 yrs. with no problems whatsoever. It contained 1 Red Tail/Rainbow shark, about 1/2 dozen various tetras, and a pleco, which grew to such proportions he had to be sold back to the pet shop. We never did any testing of the water, and all fish seemed to thrive in there.

So,,, we decided to purchase a 29 gal. tank and to make a "short story long", bought some new fish, moved the old ones, and killed a bunch of them. We had an outbrake of Ich,,, treated with Malch. Green,,, 5 gal. water changeout per day,,, bumped up the salt a bit,,, raised temp. to the 80-82* range,,, and they just keep fallin' out. The only fish left out of the new and old ones are:
2 - Dwarf Gouramis
2 - Male Fancy Guppies
2 - White Cloud Tetras
1 - Platy
1 - Rasbora
1 - Butterfly Loach
After reading the Ich article here,,, We are putting the charcol filter back in,,, leaving the temp where it is,,, and adding the reccommended dosage of salt which is 2 3/4 tsp. per gal. of water according to "Peter's Ich Notes".

I guess I just included that mainly for background, here's what I'd like to know. We finally went and purchased test kits for our tanks, they are Jungle Quick Dip - Ammonia Test, and Jungle Quick Dip - 5 in 1. Thinking that maybe the 10 gal. was ready for a re-introduction of fish that would eventually be moved to the big tank, we tested it, and the big one, here are the results:

10 Gal.
Nitrate - 40
Nitrite - safe/0
Hardness - very hard/300
Alkalinity - high/300
Ph-Alkaline - 8.4

29 Gal.
Nitrate - 40
Nitrite - safe/0
Hardness - 300
Alkalinity - 180-300
Ph-Alkaline - 7.8-8.4

Now then,,, couple of things. Are these "Jungle" tests any good??? Reason I ask is due to the frequency of water changing in the big tank because of the Ich, and the fact the 10 gal. is an established tank. It just seems kind of hinky that the results almost mirror one another. The directions were followed to a "T", in fact had wifey do it so that I knew it was done right! lol

So,,, How do I interpret these tests, and what do I do about the results???

Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!

 

[deli_conker]

Did all of the fish go into the 29 gal leaving no fish in the 10? If so, did you do any water changes on the 10 after moving the fish to the 29? Not doing any water changes would be a reason that your 10 had a high nitrAte level. It could also be that the test doesn't distinguish between certain concentrations of nitrAtes very well (30, 40 , and 50 all look simular for instance).

I use Aquarium Phamceuticals Master Freshwater Test Kit. It covers most everything but nitrAte tests. From what I've heard, the liquid tests are better than strip tests. Can't say 100% sure on that one because I've never used the strips.

You probably got your ick from one of the new fish. I would recommend the following setup...

29 for the main tank, your fish's permenant home
10 gal QT tank, where the fish get to stay for 6 weeks before they move into the 29.

Something else though, does the test kit you are using have an ammonia test? You will probably want to test for ammonia so that you are seeing samples from the whole nitrogen cycle. And you may want to test your tap water as well to see if it already has nitrAtes in it (or at least if your test kit thinks there are nitrAtes in it).

hope this helps...

 

[smallfry]

I'm not much of an expert yet, but I do know that liquid chemical tests are much more accurate than the test strips. Also, you should always QT new fish in a separate tank for at least 7 days before putting them in with your existing fishies... Hopefully someone else will add to this and give you additional help also. (best of luck to you)

 

[smallfry]

ooh - it looks like Deliconker beat me to the answer... (I type slow sometimes)

 

[RacerX]

Ya, I forgot to add the Ammonia levels in there,,,

29 gal - .25-.5

10 gal - 0-.25



So,,, I know that my ammonia levels and nitrites are within a safe range. What about the other results? Are they acceptable, or do they need to be manipulated? If so, how?

BTW,,, thanks for the quick replies!!!


as an edit: I called the local petstore, only one in town,,, they say the levels of hardness, alkalinity, and Ph are about normal for this area, it's about what their tanks are, and fish by the time they are sold, are accustomed to it. What say you about this???

yes, all the fish were moved from the 10 gal to the 29 gal with approx. 40% of the water, a few cup fulls of the gravel, and one plant (plastic) that had good algae growth on it.

 

[flipz]

racer,
like it was said already, you really need to get liquid test kits. the dip strips just arne't accurate, with that said, your 10 gallon looks fine. the 29 gallon isn't cycled. the fact that it was a .25-.5 ammonio reading shows that the cycle is not completed. it should not read anything over 0 (while 0 itself is not actually possible, the test shows 0 like on your 10 gal). your hardness and alkalinity are perfectly fine. the pH is high. why does it say 7.8-8.4? that's a huge difference, you really need a more accurate test. if it's 8.4 i would consider trying to lower it. however DO NOT add any chemicals to lower it. look for natural methods such as peat. if not, just get fish that are ok in higher ph. did both of those tanks have salt? that would explain the high ph, and it should go down with water changes.your nitrates at 40 are borderline. it's pretty much agreed that at 40 is the time that it's getting too high.

hope this helps some. ohh, and go get liquid test kits.

-brent

 

[RacerX]

7.8 was one shade of red(I think?), 8.4 was a darker shade, and the square on the test strip fell to a color somewhere inbetween.

I guess a liquid test kit is in order. Kinda a bummed about puttin' out over $20 for the two kits only to find out they're not good...

Yes, both tanks have salt in them. The 10 gal. tank has about 2 tblsp. in it, and the 29 gal. has 5, but... the 29 gal. will be getting the salt treatment re: "Peter's Ich Notes".

I'm assuming just by doing a 20-25% water change in the big tank, that'll bring my ammonia level down to as near as 0 as can be???


Oh btw,,, thanks for you replies!

 

[flipz]

Could always try returning them... saying they don't work. Even if it's just for store credit to get the liquid strips. 8)

Water changes alone won't bring the ammonia down, it needs to complete the cycle. Water changes are required, and will help, but truly it's just a matter of time. I can't know for sure based on your tests, but that amount isn't going to kill anything. It's not good (or safe) for fish, but it won't kill them. Based on your levels alone (assuming the tests are at least somewhat accurate) fish would be fine in there, other than the ph. But you can just go with higher ph fish.

-brent

 

[Deitta]

I personally use both liquid and the dip strips. I use the dip strips to get a general idea, but if I need to know the exact numbers... out comes the liquid tests. For example anything wierd going on?... do a liquid. Just doing a weekly or semi-monthly check to make sure nothing is getting really out of wack without you noticing... dip stick it.
Just my opinion! Plus I hate using the liquid test kits...

 

[oscarbreeder]

I just dont trust the dip strips.
I like my Hagen master test kit.
It tests for 10 different things.

 

[deli_conker]

Plus I hate using the liquid test kits

They are a little time consuming, but I prefer the accuracy.

Good advice from flipz on the ammonia. If you want to stay with the fish you have and want to bring the ph down, try adding a hunk of driftwood. It looks good and lowers ph (albeit slowly). Driftwood needs to be treated before added to a tank. I prefer Malaysian as it sinks by itself and never needs to be "anchored down". Do a search on this site for "driftwood" and you'll find plenty of info on the subject.

I have also heard of using peat in the filter. This is something that I am checking into myself for a community tank that I am setting up and have little knowledge of at this time. Just something to check out...

 

[RacerX]

Thank you all very much for the advice. I guess a liquid test kit is in order sometime down the road. I think I'll look into the driftwood and the peat. There is one piece of d/w in the large tank now, not very big, it was a store bought piece so I assume it didn't need to be treated.

Anyway,,, thank you all once again!!!