My Test Results

ramled74

Hi Everyone:

(I posted a similar message in the Set Up Category)

I just purchased the API Master Test Kit:

My 60 gallon tank is 5 days old. I have 1 Bala Shark and 3 silver dollars.


Here are my readings:

Ph (7.6 the high end of the card)

High Range PH: 8.2

Ammonnia: between .25 and .50

Nitrite is really hard to distinguish on the chart but I believe its 1.0

Nitrate is 5.0.

I believe the PH is too high. Right?

What about the other readings? Again, I have the silver dollars, the Bala, and the orange fish mentioned before, in case you want to know. Is this the middle of cycling? Should I do anything right now? The fish appear to be healthy to me, except the Bala doesn't seem to be eating during feedings. He just nibbles thru the sand at the bottom.

Thanks folks for all your help over the past week.

andy53

Your pH is too high. You also want your ammonia and nitrite to be 0. I would think about a water change, and try and figure out what is causing your pH to be so high. What is the pH of the water you are using?

gregpape23

I agree with andy53 and would like to add that bala sharks are more like a catfish, they will scavange watever food the other fish have missed. why would the ph and the high end ph be different? Is 8.2 the lowest reading for the high range ph? If it is really 7.6 I wouldn't be too concerned.

ramled74

The Master Kit has a PH test, and a high PH test. I tested both.

The regular PH reading was 7.6 (which was the maximum for that test, which means it could be 7.6 or higher), so I then tested the using the High PH chart, and got the measurement of 8.2, which is not the lowest reading on the high PH chart. I believe its the second to the lowest.

I will test my regular tap water and see what happens. I'll also do a water change. Is there a chemical I can just put in the existing water to bring the levels down?

somerton16

before you start dumping chemicals in ur tank lets fins out what your water source is first. also are you useing anything else in ur tank chemicals etc. that could be raiseing ur ph? i just dont like useing chemicals ina tank. almost everything can be solved with water changes. also your tank is still cycling so that might be raiseing the ph not sure if that even would be an issue but something to consider. in the top left of almost all pages in the article section are really good articles to read up on cycleing tanks. not sure if you are new to fishtanks all together but there is also some good articles on new tanks problems that newbies like myself usually run into and ask for help. by reading them you can avoid those type of problems. good luck with ur future fish keeping experiences

gregpape23

If you have crushed coral as a substrate then I would take that out, that should lower the ph. ( I made this mistake with my very first tank. I was dumping a ton of that ph down stuff in lol.)

tropical1

if yo tested the low ph card and its maxed out, and then you test the high range and it isnt the lowest on the card, then the 8.2 is your ph. and some water just has a high ph. my tank has 8.0 and thats what it is coming out the tap. you really dont want to use a ph adjuster, its very difficult. your fish will get used to the ph.

ramled74

OK Gang:

I tested my tap water. Here were the results:

PH. 7.2

Amonia: 0

Nitrite: 0

Nitrate: 0

These readings are good. So I guess it must be somethig in my tank.

I did a water change, and conditioned the water first with the AmQuel Plus (for nitrate, nitrie and ammonia) and NovAqua Plus (Water Conditioner).

Am I OK at this point? Do I need to do anything else?

Tommy Gun

Hey all! Hope you don't mind if I butt in for a second....

First, there is a good argument that can be made that states there is no such thing as pH being too high or too low...short of the extremes - meaning if it is somewhere between 5.0 and 9.0, you are almost always best served by trying to maintain that pH versus trying to change it (key word: "almost" - there are exceptions but I don't think this is one of them).

So, I do agree that 8.2 is most likely the pH of your water and I definitely agree that you should be looking at the entire picture before adding chemicals and such...not only are those chemicals only temporary "fixes" (term used very losely) but they can actually cause more problems than solutions since again, you really want to keep pH stable/steady or risk causing problems for your fish.

Anyways, if I tested one of my aquariums and got the same results, I would probably come to the assumption that the tank is still cycling and I need to continue testing often because even though I want ammonia and nitrite levels to be 0 ppm, I also know that I need some of both in the water in order to promote the population growth of my benificial bacteria. I would also be leery about the pH as well, but only because the higher pH could mean that the ammonia and nitrites are more hazardous to my fish than they otherwise might be at a lower pH...however, I would probably still avoid trying to change it and instead, move ahead with doing smaller, but more frequent water changes - for example, 10% daily - until I watched the tank cycle via the eyesight provided by frequent testing. Who knows, that higher pH might actually become more of a benifit than a hinderance in the future.

Of course, that is only what I would do and only what I would do if I knew only as much as already explained and other's might have a lot different approach.

ramled74

After my water change from 48 hours ago, I tested my water again just now. Here are the results.

PH: 8.0

Ammonia: .25

nitrite: 0

nitrate: 10


Remember I tested my tap water by itself and the numbers (see previous post) were fine. Are these numbers just part of the cycle? Should I be concerned. I am hearing two opinions about the PH. I did the water change and I brought my PH down from 8.2 to 8.0. Not much. My fish seem to be happier and more active than ever, so I don't think I should worry about the PH. Is that OK? And what about the ammonia level of .25? And the nitrate of 10?

Really enjoying my tank.

RAMLED