Test your water chemistry reading skills

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gd007

Aquarium Advice Activist
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Nov 28, 2013
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Hoping I did this properly (attaching the image inline via cell phone).

How do you read these results ?

ForumRunner_20131206_114758.jpg
 
PH: 7.4-7.6 Ammonia: 4 Nitrite: off the charts Nitrate: 40 You need to do some huge water changes! Hopefully you don't have any fish in there because no fish could last long in that..
Edit: just saw you're doing a fishless cycle- good for you! I would still recommend doing a 50% water change, very high nitrites can stall a cycle. Doing this will not harm the bacteria or interfere with their growth.
 
I did a massive wc and here are my results

I just did a I did a massive wc and here are my results. Picture does not do it justice but I'm thinking my readings are:

pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 0
Nitrite: .5-1ppm
Nitrate: 20-40 (in real life it's more orange than red)


What do you think?
 

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You must be getting close to the end of your cycle! Hooray!!

Thank you, yes!

I started on 11/30 and have been taking readings daily, and sometimes 2X a day. Ammonia (at ~3-4ppm) has been dropping to below 0.5 in 12 hours!! But my Nitrites are still sky high...hence the water change because I could not even read them nor the Nitrates.
 
4ppm or 2ppm?

Looks good! It's moving along :)

Thank you! Here is just the ammonia test 1hr after I added 9ml of ammonia. I'm going to call this 4ppm but it does look a tad lighter...perhaps 3. 9ml, with a 55gal tank, should have raised it to 4ppm.
 

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results - ammonia back at zero and both nitrite and nitrate are high

I took this sample at ~lunch on 12/9 (about 15 hours after i spiked the ammonia to 4ppm).

Looks like my ammonia is down to zero but Nitrites are still high.

So I do *not* think I am done the cycling as both Ammonia *and* Nitrites are supposed to be down to zero after 24 hours, not just Ammonia. Remember, I did a 75%+ wc yesterday around 6pm, in order to read Nitrites and Nitrates, and spiked ammonia at ~730pm. (thread above).

Am I doing this correct?
Do I just need patience to watch the Nitrites start to come back down (without a water change)?

I am spiking ammonia back up to 4ppm at ~145pm. I am also adding a small pinch of fish food.

Appreciate any advise (or encouragement). :)

-GD007
 

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Looks like you're on track :) patience is the key. The bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrate reproduces slower than the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrites.
Water changes never hurt!
 
Looks like you're on track :) patience is the key. The bacteria that converts nitrite to nitrate reproduces slower than the bacteria that converts ammonia to nitrites.

Thanks again! I've attached an image of the 55gal tank in question (for background). It does have live plants, a bubble bar in the back, two bubble 'points' in the front corners, and two Marineland Penguin 350B filters.

With the live plants I am also adding a cap full of Flourish Excel every other day. I am hoping that is not messing things up.

I do keep the Floramax Plant Growth light on for 10-12 hours every day as well.

steady as she goes... I guess I just get worried when I see people post things like "too much nitrites can stall your cycle"...

I did add 9ml ammonia at 145pm, per my previous post :)
 

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It does have live plants, a bubble bar in the back, two bubble 'points' in the front corners, and two Marineland Penguin 350B filters.
..and that is real driftwood, not fake.

It is also the real Spiderman, real Captain America, and real Barbie - i'm holding them hostage... ;-)
 
lol. You're the guy with the funny Spider Man/Cpt America ornament!
Kids are funny aren't they, I am a jerk not letting mine pick anything to put in.

You're on track, for a while you'll just have the ammonia clearing out within several hours to nitrites. You're just on the second part of the track.
The biggest thing to watch for, I find, is a pH crash. My pH crashed and my cycle stalled. You don't want to let it get under 6.5
If it does you can add some baking soda to bring it back up into a normal range. Just be sure to do as big a WC as you can once you are cycled to get out all of the baking soda, as the pH will not be an issue once it is cycled (the high ammonia levels mess up the pH during the cycle)
 
The biggest thing to watch for, I find, is a pH crash. My pH crashed and my cycle stalled. You don't want to let it get under 6.5

Roger that! I am watching it and it appears to be hovering around 7.4. When I do the 'normal' pH test it goes blue (7.6) and when I do the high pH test it's light brown (7.4).... so I guess I'm 7.4-->7.6.

-GD007
 
OMG - check this out!!

I took this sample at ~lunch on 12/9 (about 15 hours after i spiked the ammonia to 4ppm).
....
I am spiking ammonia back up to 4ppm at ~145pm. I am also adding a small pinch of fish food.

So I happen to be at home today, 12.10.13 (snow day in PHL), so I took advantage of being home and took a water sample at ~145pm. This would be 24 hours after I spiked the ammonia yesterday afternoon.

I can hardly believe my eyes that Nitrites are even LIGHTER BLUE than the pH test!! Makes me think I messed up the test tubes...

The guide would lead me to believe to add more ammonia to not 'starve' the bacteria...

I welcome any feedback on thoughts and/or your take on my readings.

image attached

-GD007
 

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Yep, you might be cycled.

Dose to 4ppm again, check tomorrow. If ammonia and nitrite are gone you are ready!!

You'll want to continue dosing the ammonia every day until you get fish. Also since you trained the tank to 4ppm you should get as much of your stock as you can, all at once.

Just make sure you do the largest WC you can before you get the fish, like every last bit of water you can suck out
 
Looks great!! Yep, dose your ammonia back up again and let's see if we can replicate the results again tomorrow! Looks like the media finally kicked into gear and you will have your fish before Christmas! :)
 
...dose your ammonia back up again and let's see if we can replicate the results again tomorrow

Alright - I added 9.2ml (which is what I've been doing when ammonia at zero) of the Ace Hardware Janitorial Ammonia around ~805pm. I just tested the water (sample taken at 1115pm) and the results appear to be:
  • pH: 7.4-7.6
  • Ammonia: 2-3
  • Nitrite: 0.5-1
  • Nitrate: red, 80?

I brightened the attached image to try and replicate how the liquid actually appears.

Will check again tomorrow after work and will post results.

Thanks all!
-GD007
 

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