New here. Need help with my gourami.

[Bearchumjs]

Update:

Skeeter is still alive! I've been doing 25%-50% water changes every other day. Yesterday I did a full water change because I got new substrate. I really like the look of my tank now. I'm currently boiling some driftwood to get it ready to go in in place of the pink decoration. I'm going to buy an API master kit today, and some fertilizer tablets for the new plants. Skeeter likes resting on the Rotala Indica. Here's a picture:

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Glad to her it's going well tank looks good

 

[Hholly]

Good going!

 

[Bearchumjs]

I got the test kit! These are my results. Now what?!

 

[Hholly]

It looks like you have a bit of nitrites and a lot of nitrates. Looks almost cycled. But needs a water change to get nitrates down. Good going!

 

[Mumma.of.two]

Check your tap water for nitrates. It shouldn't be that high with all the water changes you've been doing.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Check your tap water for nitrates. It shouldn't be that high with all the water changes you've been doing.

Copy! I'll post results in a few minutes. That nitrate test takes the longest!

 

[Aquarist27]

Great looking Gourami!

 

[Bearchumjs]

Check your tap water for nitrates. It shouldn't be that high with all the water changes you've been doing.

And here's the problem.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Check your tap water for nitrates. It shouldn't be that high with all the water changes you've been doing.

Then I added two drops of this to a gallon of water. Let it sit for 10 minutes and this is what I got: I don't see much of a change, if any.

 

[Bearchumjs]

Great looking Gourami!

Thanks!

 

[Bearchumjs]

Also- I tested my betta's tank and everything was good except the nitrates we sky high like the gouramis.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

That's a fair amount of nitrate! I'd say your not cycled. Keep a close eye on ammonia and nitrite still. Nitrate in your tap water isn't too bad. Just means more frequent large water changes to keep it low as possible.

 

[Hholly]

The more live plants the better for your nitrates.

 

[Bearchumjs]

The more live plants the better for your nitrates.

Live plants eat nitrate? I need more then!! What is a good plant to go in the middle. I have some tall background plants. I want a micro sword for the foreground with the little ferns and I need something for the middle...

 

[Bearchumjs]

I just tested the water again with my daughter (7yrs old). It's science! Anyway- these are the results. It's been 24 hours since the 100% water change. I'm going to do a 25% pwc. Oh- and what the heck is up with the pH? I did the high range test to see what it would say. I said "Dang!!"

 

[Bearchumjs]

I did a 50% change and am going to test the water again in 40 minutes.

 

[Hholly]

Your pH looks to be about 8.3. Mine is the same way.

 

[Mumma.of.two]

The high range picks up where the low range stops. So if you get 7.6 on low and 8.2 on high your pH is 8.2.
Live plants consume nitrate. Get some fast growing stem plants. They will 'eat' more nitrate then slow growing plants. They won't reduce it hugely unless the tank is heavily planted but every bit helps!

 

[Bearchumjs]

I just tested the water again. The nitrites and ammonia were back to zero. Ph was 8.2 and nitrates were either 40 or 80. It's hard to tell those two apart. Thanks for all your help guys! I'm starting to understand this process and get the hang of what I need to do.