water testing questions?

[dancersmama79]

just got my API testing kit today and ive had my 5 gal tank with one betta for about 3 weeks now... Nitrites and Nitrates are both 0 but Ammonia is .50 so im assuming i need to do a 50% water change???

 

[KaylNeko]

Yep. 50% or a little more to get it below .25.

 

[dancersmama79]

thats what i did

 

[dancersmama79]

my ph is 7.6 is that good for mystery snails?

 

[KaylNeko]

That's awesome for mystery snails--is what I have, actually. If the pH starts getting too low (below 7) and too soft, you start having to supplement for calcium loss.

 

[dancersmama79]

dumb question... what causes PH?? is it hard water? i have city water and am not sure if we have hard water or not...

 

[dancersmama79]

ive never had mystery snails but always wanted them but wanted to do my research first and ive read several different sites and alot of information mine are loving their tank and my betta isnt attacking them or trying to eat them... he nipped at ones shell but i think hes just curious and trying to figure out what they are since hes not had anything in his tank before... its cool to watch them together.... hes not bothering them at all just keeping his eye on them lol

 

[rreekers]

dumb question... what causes PH?? is it hard water? i have city water and am not sure if we have hard water or not...

Ph is a measure of the water ... on a level of being acidic or basic

 

[KaylNeko]

pH is, put simply, the measure of how acid or basic the water is. 7 is completely neutral. Below 7 grows towards acid, above 7 is basic. Usually--and I say usually because it's not always the case--the more basic water is harder and has more salts and minerals in it, therefore more calcium for the snails to use, and the more acid, the softer the water is and the less salts and minerals are in the water, therefore less for the snail to use to replenish their shell. If it gets too acidic, I've read that it can start almost eating at the shell, but I'm not sure most tap water would get low enough. If you're below 6, you might have issues, but you'll probably have issues anyways since it's harder to keep pH stable that low.

If you want more detailed info, wikipedia's got a good article that gets more into the science of it--I was serious when I said that was put simply, but that's about what needs known for the tanks and my memory for details is not that great.

My betta has a pet mystery snail that he leaves alone, and I have 2 in the 55 gallon.

While it probably won't be an issue, I'll toss it out there just for the edification of anyone reading who's interested and curious--sometimes bettas will start nipping at the snails' antennae. If you see that, pull the snail out. While they can regrow the antennae, if it gets bad enough, the stress can kill the snail.

 

[dancersmama79]

right now hes not picking at the snails hes just staying close to the smaller one its like he almost encircles it with his fins like a blanket almost lol but hes not flaring or anything like hes being defensive its almost like hes being protective or something or just being close to him.... right now i cant tell if they are male or female....

 

[KaylNeko]

That's cool--he's probably trying to figure out what's going on. Like I said, he probably won't bother it. And you really can't sex mystery snails, as far as I can tell. If you want to breed, you throw a bunch in a tank and hope *lol*

 

[dancersmama79]

i did a search on bing and it took me to applesnail.net shows a diagram of a male and a female... i think my smaller one might be a male... so far they are doing just fine and im glad.... only concern i have really is my water seems to be really cloudy even after my water change...

 

[dancersmama79]

When is a good time to test the water after a water change??

 

[KaylNeko]

Give it 15 or 20 minutes so everything gets mixed together.

 

[dancersmama79]

thank you

 

[dancersmama79]

my ammonia is at .25 and my nitrites and nitrates are both at zero??? i know the nitrates are supposed to be higher than that but i hadnt fully cycled my tank yet...

 

[boadams87]

Yea it looks like its not done yet

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Glad to hear you got you test kit!
Your tank is still in the very early stages of cycling. In the next few weeks expect to see the ammonia decrease and an increase in nitrite. Then the nitrite will decrease and the nitrate will rise.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Oh and the cloudiness is most likely a bacteria bloom. Very common in new cycling tanks. It should resolve itself.

 

[dancersmama79]

thank you i was a bit worried about the cloudiness but that has also cleared up... have had to quarintine my betta as he has cottony patches on his head...