Fish scared of me

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As above. Required water tests using a solution / vial kit are ammonia, nitrIte, nitrAte and ph. This will give information on tank cycling progress as the nitrifying bacterial populations develop. The strip tests can and do under-read. These should not be used (except perhaps for kh and gh). Results from store or testing at home must be posted (along with the method used). This is because free ammonia is just about the fastest way of killing off the fish your tank faces at the moment. The amount of free ammonia depends on the ph - so water test results are important. So definitely congratulations on knowing a thread was needed to ask questions; replies have been kindly posted.


https://www.apifishcare.com/product.php?id=580#.Wl69EjhlIoI


https://www.petology.com.au/api-fre...MIw_C4mYHe2AIVESu9Ch114wWNEAQYASABEgJN5fD_BwE
 
Ok guys got the ammonia tester these are my water parameters (only ammonia is tested with the liquid the rest I am using strips)

Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Hardness 200ish
Chlorine 0
Alkilinity 120
Ph 7.4
Ammonia is in the picture cause I couldn't exactly tell
1516209061043.jpg
 
OK, cool! Do a water change, about 50% And with the liquid test it is very Very important you follow instructions to a T. And when reading the colors you gotta have good light. When your done with the water change test again. You will know when it's yellow. Yellow will be bright and unmistakable. Gravel vac yet? You will probably be changing that water alot until you get the gravel cleaned too. Be careful to not over feed. Doing good!
 
I was hoping someone would comment because I can't ever tell the color of ammonia! My daughter or husband have to look at it for me ? I would continue doing two or more if large water changes through the week. I don't know if it was already discussed but make sure you are not replacing your filter media! Only rinse it in a bucket of tank water when it gets dirty. I have 2 filters so I alternate cleanings between the 2. The one filter still has the same media it came with years ago. If you rinse it gently it should last you a while.
 
Carrie1 said:
I was hoping someone would comment because I can't ever tell the color of ammonia! My daughter or husband have to look at it for me ? I would continue doing two or more if large water changes through the week. I don't know if it was already discussed but make sure you are not replacing your filter media! Only rinse it in a bucket of tank water when it gets dirty. I have 2 filters so I alternate cleanings between the 2. The one filter still has the same media it came with years ago. If you rinse it gently it should last you a while.
Click to expand...
I'd say the color is at 50. Give or take.
 
connor31556 said:
Ok guys got the ammonia tester these are my water parameters (only ammonia is tested with the liquid the rest I am using strips)

Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Hardness 200ish
Chlorine 0
Alkilinity 120
Ph 7.4
Ammonia is in the picture cause I couldn't exactly tell
View attachment 306359
Click to expand...

As above on water change needed - as a rule of thumb - anytime the water shows ammonia above 0.25, then time for a water change. Testing must be undertaken daily until cycled or you know the trends. Water changes should be of roughly temperature-matched water (i.e. not tap cold). As a heads up - you may need to do daily water changes.

So at this point, definitely no more buying of any fish until tank is cycled ime. In a cycled tank, ammonia will be 0 as you know. Watch for any black marks appearing around fins or gill plates - this can indicate ammonia burn marks and can show up to 3 days after the ammonia spike.

What water conditioner are you using? Some will detoxify ammonia for a short period which gives the fish more protection until a water change is completed eg seachem prime.

Also test the tap water used for water changes. Hopefully that has 0 ammonia (check a shire water report) so you can see the colour change. Also gives a baseline reading of ph, kh, gh, nitrates, etc. Some tap water can be high in ammonia or nitrates so worth checking. I do this every change in the weather seasons as they change the tap source water going from winter to summer.

Test tap water for ph straight from tap. Then put tap water in an open glass and let it gas-off for 24 hrs. Re-test ph. This will give the true ph of the water. Post all findings back on here.
 
Yes I totally spaced on the tap water test! If no ones around to help me tell colors I will test my tap since I know it has 0 ammonia and if it's over 0 change water. You'll get the hang of it and things will get better and less bumps once you get in the swing of things!
 
Yes, it can all be a bit daunting and so much to learn. After a bit though, it all gets to be second nature - we’ve all gone through this. First CO2 injection system for planted tank I set up was all confusing. Gassed a few fish despite having I thought everything covered, including low ph cut-off probe.
 
Ok these are the stats for the tap water we use

Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Total hardness between 150 and 200
Total chlorine 0
Total alkalinity 180
Ph 7.2
and ammonia is down below again not to good at reading it20180118_150812.jpg
 
I think your good on that. But Hard to tell the shadow glare from the other colors on the card. Just hold the tub up in good light. With the card beside it. And match it up. The readings good on your tank yet? Your gonna wanta test it again today. Test for nitrite too.
 
Tap water looks good. Excellent progress!

If anything I’d suspect your ph is reading a little low as a test result versus the total alkalinity. That would be fine if it is actually a bit higher.

Over time, tanks tend to a lower ph as total alkalinity is consumed by natural bacteria. Your tap water looks fine to counter-act that when you do water changes.

Total chlorine of 0 is also a little surprising. Our tap water is about 0.5ppm from memory but that just may reflect your water company using some other chemical to treat the water that the test can’t detect.

Keep using water conditioner to treat the water as you know.

Down the track, a product like seachem prime is useful to detoxify ammonia, etc.

http://www.seachem.com/prime.php
 
Ok today's water parameters I put a picture down below so you guys can double check

Nitrate 0
Nitrite 0
Total hardness around 150
Total chlorine0
Total alkalinity 80
Ph 7.4

It looks good to me and it looks like I'm starting to get a little bit more nitrate too that s good right?1516392463940.jpg1516392506227.jpg
 
The chlorine on your test strip is your ammonia level. But the liquid tests are better. I can't believe you don't have much nitrate. But it will get there. Just keep testing your water make sure the ammonia level stays yellow.
 
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