Ph help - new tank

[Mrs.h2012]

Ok new readings nothing has changed in the past couple of days

By those pictures it looks like your cycled! I would keep testing for a few more days to make sure your getting 0 ammonia and nitrite, and if you are I would say your cycled just be sure and keep nitrates under 20.

 

[kwandrsn]

Does the ammonia look like 0 or 0.25? looks like 0.25 to me but it hadn't changed

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Does the ammonia look like 0 or 0.25? looks like 0.25 to me but it hadn't changed

From the picture it looked 0 to me, looked straight yellow. Your nitrite for sure is at 0.

 

[kwandrsn]

Ok I'll check it for a few more days then I'll check it once a week

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Ok I'll check it for a few more days then I'll check it once a week

Once my tank cycled I still tested more than once a week, I went to testing every few days instead of daily. Personally it scared me to only test once a week lol. But how you test is completely up to you and whatever you feel comfortable with doing. As you move along in the hobby you get more comfortable going longer periods of time not testing your water.

 

[kwandrsn]

Yea I may do it more than that. I will figure out what I wasn't to do. The nitrates haven't gone up much so I guess its doing good

I just still say my ammonia looks light green like 0.25 on the card. I hate being color blind lol

 

[Mrs.h2012]

Yea I may do it more than that. I will figure out what I wasn't to do. The nitrates haven't gone up much so I guess its doing good

I just still say my ammonia looks light green like 0.25 on the card. I hate being color blind lol

Well the card colors are So close anyway it's hard for all of us! But I really think its yellow

 

[kwandrsn]

Ok I got got water out of our filter thing in the fridge and also ran one from the tank

The one with the x is fridge water



Looks same to me. I guess I'm color blind between yellow and light green lol. Oh well

 

[kwandrsn]

Well lost another shrimp I think. They are a little more active today but I found what I think were the remains of a shrimp stuck to my filter intake. All that was left was legs. My tank has stuff flaring around that you can see. Its been a week since the last water change I have a air bubble strip about where the outlet from the filter is do I shut it off I'm wondering if its keeping the stuff from bring sucked into the filter

 

[librarygirl]

Was it an actual shrimp or exoskeleton from a molt?
If the air stone is near the intake, then move it in order to not get air sucked into the filter but if it's near the outflow it should be fine. The stuff floating around could be micro-bubbles from the air stone that are getting dispersed by the filter. Try turning off the air stone for a while and see if the tank clears up.

It can be hard to distinguish between 0 and .25 on the API Kit. Both tests above look like 0 but it's hard to tell in pics. If you're not sure, you can take the top off the tube and put it onto a white piece of paper and look down into the tube (or look at the tube from the bottom); it can be easier to tell whether it's yellow or green that way.

 

[kwandrsn]

Thanks for the test tip. Um as for shrimp. I'm not sure it looked like skin and legs. and the air strip is in front of the intake about 1 inch or so

I done a 5 gallon water change and the water looks better. Forgot to rinse filter in dirty water so I'll get that next time

 

[kwandrsn]

I don't know of you can see where the intake and the air strip is. I don't turn it up high. Is use gang valve for each one and I have them where bubbles barely come out

 

[kwandrsn]

Here is what I found stuck to intake. There was a little more on filter pad

 

[librarygirl]

It's hard to tell from the pic but if it's a whitish material then it's likely exoskeleton (not the prettiest thing to look at lol). The shrimp will often come back and eat it for nutrients so it's often best to leave it in there when you see it unless it's an actual dead shrimp (dead shrimp usually turn pink from what I've heard but I haven't seen one).

 

[kwandrsn]

ok thanks I find one dead shrimp and it was the whole shrimp. Then I found that but it looked clear and looked like it had legs so I assumed it was the remains of a shrimp

 

[rider6]

So here is my readings, its been about 4 weeks since we started the fish cycle...but my nitrates are just not comming up...any suggestions...

 

[fort384]

It can take time. I wouldn't worry about it. Things look good to me.

 

[rider6]

How often should I be doing water changes? I do weeklys right now but my ammo isn't outta control and my water is staying clear so should I be doing more or just let nature do its thing?

 

[Mrs.h2012]

How often should I be doing water changes? I do weeklys right now but my ammo isn't outta control and my water is staying clear so should I be doing more or just let nature do its thing?

If your doing a fish in cycle do them anytime ammonia or nitrite is above .25 and nitrates about 20.

 

[librarygirl]

Ammonia looks to be about .5 in the pic; if your tap water has 0 ammonia, I'd do a 50% water change to get ammonia down a bit. Nitrites are back to 0 and they were up before so that's good. For the nitrate test, try shaking and banging both bottles on a hard surface (table or the palm of your hand to loosen up the reagent powder) for 30 seconds. When you add the drops to the tube, be sure it's done in the right order (bottle #1 first, then #2), then vigorously shake the tube for 60 seconds and wait 5 minutes for the result. The test can come out wrong if not done properly. If after that nitrates are still 0, then you just have a bit more waiting to do