Water Chemistry

[Edgerton]

So, I have a tank at work (group home) that was just recently started. Prior to getting this tank my coworkers and I had no idea about nitrogen cycling and all that. But we were able to get a really nice 60 gallon square tank with a nice light and a really good canister filter. We put fish in it about 2 weeks after starting the tank and have had nothing but problems ever since.

We had a major algae problem which was partly our fault - not cleaning enough, and also partly the fish stores fault for selling us a light made to grow coral reefs when we have a freshwater tank.

Anyways, we have nitrates well under control now. We are cleaning with our python weekly if not a little more and our nitrate now read 0. However, our water is cloudy still and fish still do not seem healthy.

So my water test reads (test strips):
Nitrate (NO3) - 0
Nitrate (NO2) - 0
Total Harness - 300+
Chlorine - 0
Alkalinity - 300+
PH - 8.4 +

So, what do I do about these high numbers? Are these numbers ok for some species of fish? Could they be contributing to algea growth or cloudy water?

Could the issues be contributing to us not having enough healthy bacteria?

Any advice would be appreciated. thanks.

 

[Mebbid]

My biggest worry is that you cant see ammonia. 9 times out of 10 if theres no nitrates then theres ammonia. With you using test strips we dont know what the ammonia is so my first suggestion would be to take a water sample to a lfs to be tested with a liquid test kit. Its better to have this done today if possible. You want your ammonia level no higher than 0.25ppm.

After we know that, then we can touch on the other things. Your phbis a bit high, most likely because of the alkalinity. However, its way way easier to stock fish to match the ph rather than try to match the ph to the fish.

 

[Edgerton]

Sorry I should have mentioned that we also have ammonia test strips and the water was tested by the fish store a couple days ago. Amonia read by them and our strips is at 0 as well.

 

[Edgerton]

Anyone have any advice?

 

[Mebbid]

Did the lfs use a liquid test kit or strips? The test strips are notoriously inaccurate.

In an established tank there should almost never be all 0s for ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate. The only 2 ways to do that is to A. Have a super heavily planted tank and not many fish or B. Do a 100% water change.. and even then agter a few days those numbers will change.

As for the ph / alk there are two ways to handle it. Stock high ph fish or cut the water with reverse osmosis water. I would personally choose stocking fish to match the ph.

 

[ScotJudd]

I should work on the premise that the test results are wrong. Zero for ammonia, nitrite and nitrate is very unlikely.


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