??? Testing ???

[pistolero]

Hello! Newbie here. I've been keeping a betta or three and even successfully bred and raised a group of fry of them a couple years ago. I recently decided to get some fancy goldfish for the kids so I'm doing a fishless cycle in a 10 gallon right now. I know that's not big enough for several goldfish and will get a 40 or 50 soon.
I bought a API master freshwater test kit yesterday to monitor the fishless cycle. Anyway since I have the liquid tests now I tested the water my betta is in (2.5 gal) for ammonia and it read 1 ppm. This was last night (Wednesday) after a 100% water change Saturday and a partial since. So I did another partial and tested it again when I got home from work today and it's the same. This makes absolutely no sense to me. He is not being overfed and there is nothing in the tank except him.
For a control I took a gallon of my tap water treated with 3 drops of Prime, let it sit for an hour and tested it. It reads 0.5 ppm! Just did API strip tests on the water from the betta tank AND the treated tap water read 0 ammonia.

This is driving me nuts.

 

[pistolero]

So last night I took samples to the Petsmart down the street thinking I'd get some answers about my water and lo and behold the guy takes a bottle of Jungle brand strips out and dips one in each sample I brought. He declares the water fine. Ammonia betweeen 0 and 0.25.
I've talked to this guy several times over the past few weeks and he seems to know his stuff about fish. I told him I had just bought the liquid kit there for $32 and it's telling me I have high ammonia levels even in fresh Prime conditioned tap water. He says he only uses the strips himself unless he suspects something amiss. This doesn't really help me.
I'm sorta pissed for spending that much on a test kit I don't know if I can trust. I CAN get the liquid test to come out zero ammonia IF I do it on distilled water.
Can it really be running at 1 ppm 3 or 4 days after a 100% water change and cleaning, with 1 betta that seems happy, unstressed, and is growing like a weed?

 

[pistolero]

I've decided not to worry about it.
I raised 30 some beautiful bettas from fry and while I was raising them I kept a 2.5 gallon full of daphnia (which are supposed to be extra sensitive to water conditions) for months, all with treated water from the tap here.

BTW I got some pure ammonia today for the fishless cycle added 5 drops to the 10 gal, waited a while, did the strip test and got guess what... zero ammonia. So I know the strips are worthless and from my experience the liquid isn't much better.

 

[bruinsbro1997]

If the liquid didn't turn out for you it was possible you were testing it wrong. The API Freshwater Test Kit comes with two solutions for ammonia. Make sure you read the instructions thoroughly otherwise you could mess up like I did.

Your ammo was so high because it's such a small tank. In a tank that small you should be doing around 50% water changes every other day. Bettas shouldn't really be kept in tanks that small because the ammonia can easily rise to 1 or 2 ppm in a week.

 

[pistolero]

I'm sure I'm doing it according to the directions. I've done it 6 or 8 times by now and have reread the directions over and over. I still can't believe my tap water with a 150% dose of Prime is between .5 and 1.0 ppm BEFORE it goes into a tank.

 

[alex07]

Dont use tap water anymore, use either bottled water or filtered water

 

[adeebm]

Strip tests are often incorrect, so I would ignore those. If your tap is reading ammonia in the liquid tests, then perhaps your tap water comes with ammonia. Prime should bind with the ammonia and make it nontoxic for 24hrs or so, but it will still show up on the test kit. If it's still reading ammonia after 24hrs in your tank, then perhaps your tank isn't cycled, or your filter can't cope with it. What filter do you have? Also, do you change your filter media regularly, because that will cause mini cycles.

--Adeeb

 

[Keybler]

pistol. I have the same issue with the api gh test and ph test. Try diffrent lighting. I thinking sometimes I can see diffrent results depending on where I stand. Thought about painting the walls next to my tank white white.

 

[pistolero]

What do those 5 gallon jugs of spring water cost? Would you get consistent quality in general?

 

[pistolero]

What filter do you have? Also, do you change your filter media regularly, because that will cause mini cycles.

--Adeeb

No filter. One half grown male betta in a 2.5 gal. 100% water change (and thorough tank cleaning) every Saturday and 2 partials (a quart or so) in between. There is no junk in the tank, Mini heater, coffee cup, "betta hammock", bare bottom. I clean everything well when I change the water and he definitely eats every bit of his food at every feeding. Keep the temp 76 to 79 all the time. He cuts up, makes bubble nests, always has an appetite and I believe he is happy and healthy.
I suppose there must be some ammonia in our tap water. I wouldn't have thought it would be more than a good conditioner would take care of when my fish have been healthy. Will look into drinking water in those 3 or 5 gallon jugs.
Thanks.

 

[Flossie]

Your tap could be showing ammo. Mine does... I would recommend using a ammonia neutralizer

 

[pistolero]

pistol. I have the same issue with the api gh test and ph test. Try diffrent lighting. I thinking sometimes I can see diffrent results depending on where I stand. Thought about painting the walls next to my tank white white.

Ha! Yeah. I put a plain white background behind a few boy betta's it can really make the color pop. The one I have now is a beautiful boy crowntail with purple, blue, and red and if you put his tank against a white background he really shows up.

 

[pistolero]

Prime should bind with the ammonia and make it nontoxic for 24hrs or so, but it will still show up on the test kit.

--Adeeb

Ahah! Interesting.
I know my tank isn't cycled or filtered. It's a 2 & a half gallon, I rely on frequent water changes. I have had bettas in cycled 5 gallon tanks before, don't have one handy right now.

 

[alex07]

No filter. One half grown male betta in a 2.5 gal. 100% water change (and thorough tank cleaning) every Saturday and 2 partials (a quart or so) in between. There is no junk in the tank, Mini heater, coffee cup, "betta hammock", bare bottom. I clean everything well when I change the water and he definitely eats every bit of his food at every feeding. Keep the temp 76 to 79 all the time. He cuts up, makes bubble nests, always has an appetite and I believe he is happy and healthy.
I suppose there must be some ammonia in our tap water. I wouldn't have thought it would be more than a good conditioner would take care of when my fish have been healthy. Will look into drinking water in those 3 or 5 gallon jugs.
Thanks.

Next time don't do a 100% water change, just do 1/4 of it.

 

[pistolero]

Next time don't do a 100% water change, just do 1/4 of it.

Will do. I didn't really trust cycling in a tank that small. Did plan on getting him a 5 gallon sometime soon anyway though. Will do a good fishless cycle before he goes in it.
Thanks everyone!

 

[glassbird]

If I saw an employee at a fish store using test strips to test a customers water, I would very quickly find another pet store to give my business to. That's just laziness. Test strips are easy, and fast, but they are INACCURATE and people NEED real numbers to know what is going on in their tank!

Someone on this site said recently that test strips are about as accurate as guessing, and I agree.

 

[pistolero]

It's definitely not what I expected, I mean WTH, we can do that at home. I figured they'd have something better than the kits they sell, even the liquid ones, or why bother having people bring water in?

 

[Keybler]

lfs test for free to tell people what they need to buy from them.

 

[alex07]

lfs test for free to tell people what they need to buy from them.

Depends where you go, but in most placed I do agree.

 

[eco23]

If having your own quality test kit is not an option (which it always should be)...there are two important aspects to remember when you get it tested at the lfs...
1) As mentioned, make sure they are using a quality liquid test kit, not strips
2) Get the actual levels. Don't accept when they say the levels are "good" or "a little high". Those terms may mean something completely different than they do to us. The actual #'s are what you are there for