been reading through the forums, and need some additional clarification on our parameters.
Must say first, however, that we tested our tap water without letting it sit overnight - have a cup sitting out now and will test again tomorrow afternoon to see if things change.
Daughter/we have had our 20 gal tank for about 9 weeks. Like many other newbies (!), we put fish in the tank before learning all we have about cycling on these wonderful boards. Needless to say, we have lost 2 mollys in that time and now have 2 teeny tiny glo-fish/zebra danios left.
We have been doing PWCs (not as often as we should), and are using Tetra AquaSafe Plus to treat the ingoing water. We have a Penguin biowheel 150 and an adjustable heater - which we were keeping at 80 F, but in the last 24 hours, have dropped to 76-78F. There was some aquarium salt in the H20 to keep it brackish for the Mollys; but have done multiple 50% PWCs since her death a week ago, so am thinking have gotten rid of most of that.
Had only previously been testing for ammonia using API liquid test kit. Broke the glass test tube today (!) so went out and bought the full kit. Parameters are as follows:
Ammonia - .25 (have been fighting this since day 1 - usually hovers @ .5-1.0)
pH - from tank was 7.6; again, need to test tap again; was at 7.8-8.0 today
NitrItes - 0
NitrAtes - 0
Shouldn't we have SOME kind of reading on the nitrAtes? or is this the beginning of our next cycle? Also read that the testing of nitrAtes depends heavily on the "shaking" of the solution (in the bottle and in the test tube).
Also, if pH is high straight from the tap, do we need to do anything differently to treat the ingoing water (is Tetra AquaSafePlus an ok product to use?!?). Do we need to worry about the high pH in the tank?
TIA for all your help - we have learned much from all of you and are grateful for your wisdom!
Lynne & Kate
Must say first, however, that we tested our tap water without letting it sit overnight - have a cup sitting out now and will test again tomorrow afternoon to see if things change.
Daughter/we have had our 20 gal tank for about 9 weeks. Like many other newbies (!), we put fish in the tank before learning all we have about cycling on these wonderful boards. Needless to say, we have lost 2 mollys in that time and now have 2 teeny tiny glo-fish/zebra danios left.
We have been doing PWCs (not as often as we should), and are using Tetra AquaSafe Plus to treat the ingoing water. We have a Penguin biowheel 150 and an adjustable heater - which we were keeping at 80 F, but in the last 24 hours, have dropped to 76-78F. There was some aquarium salt in the H20 to keep it brackish for the Mollys; but have done multiple 50% PWCs since her death a week ago, so am thinking have gotten rid of most of that.
Had only previously been testing for ammonia using API liquid test kit. Broke the glass test tube today (!) so went out and bought the full kit. Parameters are as follows:
Ammonia - .25 (have been fighting this since day 1 - usually hovers @ .5-1.0)
pH - from tank was 7.6; again, need to test tap again; was at 7.8-8.0 today
NitrItes - 0
NitrAtes - 0
Shouldn't we have SOME kind of reading on the nitrAtes? or is this the beginning of our next cycle? Also read that the testing of nitrAtes depends heavily on the "shaking" of the solution (in the bottle and in the test tube).
Also, if pH is high straight from the tap, do we need to do anything differently to treat the ingoing water (is Tetra AquaSafePlus an ok product to use?!?). Do we need to worry about the high pH in the tank?
TIA for all your help - we have learned much from all of you and are grateful for your wisdom!
Lynne & Kate
