nikkik0720
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
So my API Master Test kit came in the mail today. I was super excited and have been waiting for it. I rinsed the tubes out really well with super hot water (no soap because I didn't want it to leave any residue). After letting them air dry for about an hour, I filled them with water from my 15 gallon tank. I just got the tank a few days ago, but it was from someone who already had it up and running and cycled. They had had it for several years. It came with the water (which they tested with an API master kit for me when I got it) and the pH was 7.0, ammonia 0ppm, nitrite was 0ppm, nitrate was between 0-10ppm. So everything was pretty much perfect.
I have done nothing different to the tank (not even water changes yet). The ONLY thing I did was add some sand from my pre-existing tank, a plant, and driftwood all also from my pre-existing tank.
So when I tested the water today I was shocked. The pH reads 7.4 on the general pH and 7.6 on the High end pH. Ammonia reads 8ppm, Nitrite read 5ppm, and Nitrate was between 10-20ppm. The fish in the tank are fine. They're active, swimming fine; eat eagerly when fed (which is only a tiny bit 2 times a day. There's never any food left after 2 minutes.) Their gills are normal, they aren't flashing or gasping at the top. The temperature of the tank is 82 degrees.
I looked online, and everywhere says that if the ammonia was truly at 8ppm, the fish would be dead/dying. I'm going to get my water tested tomorrow morning at Petco and will compare the results to see if mine are right (which I highly doubt.) I don't want to do anything to the tank before I find out for sure what's going on.
I also read that several people have had problems with ordering test kits online, especially in the winter. They say that since the tests can come from warehouses and sit in shipping, that sometimes the tests are actually no good anymore because they were exposed to extreme temperatures. I'm almost beginning to think this may be the case.
The one thing I read, a guy had his tank cycling for over a month and the readings were all perfect with test strips. He bought an API master kit online, and when he tested his water, he got insane readings. After messing with it for over a week, the results weren't changing. So he took his water to a LFS and had it tested and it was fine. He bought a cheap kit at the store and when he tested it at home it was still fine.
Is it possible that I have a 'bad kit' and that's why my readings are so odd?
What could cause the ammonia to read so high? I haven't used any chemicals in the tank, only a little bit of salt (which the people I got it from told me to do to help with stress).
I have done nothing different to the tank (not even water changes yet). The ONLY thing I did was add some sand from my pre-existing tank, a plant, and driftwood all also from my pre-existing tank.
So when I tested the water today I was shocked. The pH reads 7.4 on the general pH and 7.6 on the High end pH. Ammonia reads 8ppm, Nitrite read 5ppm, and Nitrate was between 10-20ppm. The fish in the tank are fine. They're active, swimming fine; eat eagerly when fed (which is only a tiny bit 2 times a day. There's never any food left after 2 minutes.) Their gills are normal, they aren't flashing or gasping at the top. The temperature of the tank is 82 degrees.
I looked online, and everywhere says that if the ammonia was truly at 8ppm, the fish would be dead/dying. I'm going to get my water tested tomorrow morning at Petco and will compare the results to see if mine are right (which I highly doubt.) I don't want to do anything to the tank before I find out for sure what's going on.
I also read that several people have had problems with ordering test kits online, especially in the winter. They say that since the tests can come from warehouses and sit in shipping, that sometimes the tests are actually no good anymore because they were exposed to extreme temperatures. I'm almost beginning to think this may be the case.
The one thing I read, a guy had his tank cycling for over a month and the readings were all perfect with test strips. He bought an API master kit online, and when he tested his water, he got insane readings. After messing with it for over a week, the results weren't changing. So he took his water to a LFS and had it tested and it was fine. He bought a cheap kit at the store and when he tested it at home it was still fine.
Is it possible that I have a 'bad kit' and that's why my readings are so odd?
What could cause the ammonia to read so high? I haven't used any chemicals in the tank, only a little bit of salt (which the people I got it from told me to do to help with stress).