Water parameters problem or broken test kit?

[GouramiCichlid]

I want to lower my ph and my nitrates to try and get my corydoras to breed but I have no idea how I do water Changes twice a week 15% each time every Monday and Friday and the water parameters are always the same my nitrates also seem to be stuck at 20 my ammonia is also 0.5 Idk why am I using a faulty test kit? I use the liquid api test kit

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[ScotJudd]

If you have a nitrate reading of 20 and do a 15% WC with totally nitrate free water your nitrate will fall to 17. Not hard to envisage it rising again to 20 in 3-4 days. You need to be doing seriously higher percentage WCs to drop your nitrate if that's what's required.



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[treemanone2003]

Before you go crazy trying to figure out where the issue lies in the tank (if one does) have you checked your supply water ?


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[Jessiicaxrosex3]

As long as your tap water levels are fine, only thing most people could recommend is higher wc's. You don't want any ammonia in your water

 

[GouramiCichlid]

How high.should the water changes be?

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[GouramiCichlid]

How do I check my water supply? Do I leave water sitting out for a day

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[Fresh2o]

How do I check my water supply? Do I leave water sitting out for a day

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You can test it straight from the tap. I would also test DI water if you have any. Perform ammonia and nitrate tests on tank water, tap water, and DI water. The latter two should give you zeros although the presence of ammonia and/or nitrate in tap water can occur. The DI water is not necessary but it's nice to have a negative control (even if you use it only once) when verifying a test.


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