Birdo

Jdhef, yeah I shook the bottle number 2 of the testing nitrate solution for 30 seconds exactly and shook the test tube for a minute just like it said, but the tests still reveals a lower nitrates level in my tank than is in my tap water. Thanks for the suggestion though, I am sure it's a common mistake.

Pepe yes I was told .25-.5 was a safe range too from the literature! Some said things I read .06 others said .25-.5, and even products that sold ammonia readings all differed in levels of safe ammonia! I am very glad I joined this forum!

Thanks Jdhef and Pepe for the suggestions on how many fish to put in and how to keep an eye on them! Everyone here rocks for being so nice and helpful to me!

jdhef

I saw somewhere (probably on this site) an email someone recieved from API about the Nitrate test kit. It was there that they stated that you should hit bottle number 2 against your palm or a hard surface. They also recommended shaking bottle 2 for at least one minute.

I always shake bottle 2 for about a minute, put 10 drops from bottle 1 into the vile, shake vile, shake bottle 2 for 30 seconds, add 10 drops to vile, shake vile for on minute. Then I ice down my arm like a baseball pitcher!

I was actually just researching nitates before reading this post. Live plants will lower nitates. (Do you have live plants?) I'm kinda hoping you'll figure out why your nitrates are dropping, so you can share that info with me!

Birdo

Hmm interesting Jdhef, in the instructions it says to shake the bottle # 2 for 30 seconds, not one minute. It also doesn't say to hit it on a hard surface, these all would be helpful hints that they should reprint in the instruction manual.

So you shake bottle number 2 first. Add 10 drops of bottle number 1, which you didn't shake. Then you shake the vile for 5 seconds. Then shake bottle number 2 again? for 1 minute, then add 10 drops of bottle number 2...shake vile for 1 minute. Right?

I wasn't sure because in paragraph two you said to shake bottle number 2 for 30 seconds like I did on top of 1 minute?

My tank seems to be stubborn with the readings on nitrites. I did a 50% water change yesterday waited a couple hours, then tested the water. It still had the same reading of between 0 and .25 nitrates. I will do another water change today and see if it helps...wow this is a long and hard process!

Since I am such a beginner with fish, I chose not to have any live plants to add to the confusion. You probably can't have as many fish in the tank with them in the equation anyway. And I wouldn't want that. Also, I just figured plastic floating plants will do for now. So live plants cannot be the reason for the nitrates lowering...however the only thing I can think that maybe could be a factor is the ph down solution that I use to make the ph 7.5, supposedly the ph mollies and platies thrive at? No matter how hard this solution works it only gets down to 7.8. I stopped using this a couple days ago. It seems useless because the ph always rebounds in a few days anyway. That's the only thing I put into my tank that might alter things...though it doesn't say anything about lowering nitrates.

I will have to download a picture of my tank to show you. I think it is unique because it has a linden mat insead of gravel and it looks pretty cool! I also knew that since my water is very stubborn when it comes to high PH, I chose mollies because they like higher ph. That way I don't have to worry too much about adjusting it. So it's no big deal that the ph down solutoin doesn't work anyway.

My molly momma is getting yellow stripes across her sides, I guess that means she is maturing and turning a different color? She is also pregnant, and I heard that horizontal stripes on betta fish mean stress...could this be true with mollies as well?

Do I have to worry about water hardness for mollies, platies, glass catfish, or dwarf gourami? I believe I do have pretty hard water. I can tell that without any test. If this is a problem how can I lower it, what solution would you recommend. Some factors that might be worth noting, my molly is pregnant and my ghost catfish has some sort of either bacterial slime on its body or lymphocytis. Thanks again everyone!

jdhef

Basically, I shake and pound bottle 2 for one minute, then follow the directions from the back of the card. So bottle 2 gets shaken for 30 seconds after adding the drops from bottle 1.

I don't think live plants would limit you on how many fish you can have, but I have all plastic plants also and do not know much about live plants.

I wouldn't worry about your Ph. Fish will adapt to the Ph in your tank. What they cannot adapt to is fluctuating Ph levels. I have Odessa Barbs that are supposed to like a Ph of 6-7 and my Ph is 7.6-7.8 (I'm colorblind and reading those charts is a little challenging). and they are doing just fine.

I don't know too much about fish and water hardness, so I can't be any help on that...sorry.

And yeah, get some pictures posted if you can, I'd love to see your tank.

Birdo

Thanks again jdhef! Will do!

Birdo

Well here's a quick update, I hate to post this twice, but I am hoping someone will help me quickly...My tank parameters were looking fine until I put 3 tablespoons of garlic in my tank to help my ghost fish...Now my ammonia level is up to .25 from 0, my nitrates are the same and my nitrites are the same...and my ph is down to 7.8. Apparently garlic is acidic because my tap water is naturally 8.0... Should I change the tank immediately or let it sit for tonight. I literally just did this 30 minutes ago.

Shawnie

id do a water change...in my 75 gal, I only put about a tsp so maybe you used too much...and yes garlic is acidic...id do the water changes for the ammonia readings tho not so much the ph...fish addapt well as long as its not a huge difference...

Birdo

Sheesh...well Dino was way off with those estimates...I don't even cook with 3 tablespoons of garlic...Between the garlic and the extra aquarium salt in my tank I could have an Italian cuisine party if I add 1 box of angel hair noodles or lingini...

Ok how much water should I change? another 50%? Does this mean I will have to re-cycle the tank??!!!

Shawnie

if dino gave u those ammounts, im sure they are fine...hes brilliant at fish keeping so maybe it was the 3 fish you added to change the ammonia..the bio load couldnt keep up...but either way, id deffinately do 50% again daily until you have no ammonia...did you find some prime? that will lock it down for 24 hours..

Birdo

I didn't add any fish yet Shawnie, it's all how I left it. The only different thing that was done to the tank was the garlic. Plus the whole room smells like it! The whole tank wasn't ready for the 3 fish, so I didn't put them in. It wasn't through the cycle yet.

Shawnie

hmm well the tank is in a mini cycle for whatever reasons...strange...but the water changes should fix that up ....

Birdo

Ok...here we go again. *sigh* Anyway I got the directions from my thread about my ghostfish having lymphocytis. He said a teaspoon to a tablespoon per 10 gallons.

Well, I changed the tank...Now I have the readings of between 0 and .25 for ammonia very close to 0, nitrogen 0, and nitrate still 5... Does this mean I have to re-cycle the tank? I

n the meantime, my whole room still smells like garlic. My tank needs either a breathmint or to be put over a huge stove to cook some noodles along with it...Good thing my tank or any of the inhabitants don't have a date tonight. Kissing would be awkward with garlic breath...

I think the only way I can get rid of that smell is to change the filter cartridge, but I wait and see what everyone thinks first about my cycle being hopeless (starting over from scratch) before I change my cartridge...

Shawnie

aww birdo

LOL @ fish dates.....NOOOOOOOO dont change the filter or you will be in a total new cycle...just the water changes...you are suppose to have nitrates so thats perfect...and just the lil bit of ammonia you have will require the water change for another day or two...or until its deffinately 0...im sure the smell will dissapear....still giggling on the date thing

Birdo

Well I guess what's confusing about the nitrates, I know I am supposed to have them, but the nitrates in my tap water are 10, and in my tank it's 5. So I don' t know if the nitrates in the tank are from my water source or are forming as a result from cycling. How would I know the difference?

jdhef

I guess it doesn't matter what the source is. As long as your ammonia and nitrites are reading zero, you should be cycled.

Since my tap water has nitrates, I just waited until ammonia and nitrites dropped to zero. Then after adding my first group of fish, I just kept a close eye on ammonia and nitrite levels for about a week to make sure I was fully cycled.

Birdo

Ok that sounds easy enough! Thanks everyone for helping me out! I think the second stage of the nitrogen cycle is the longest stage because it takes the second set of bacteria longer to form right? So I might be doing 50% water changes for a while. I am going to update my tank status now.

0 Ammonia, nitrites between 0 and .25, nitrates 5.0, ph 8.0 for my 29 gallon.

Once the tank is cycled how often should I change it? Once every 2 weeks as a rule, or should I just wait for the parameters to hit a certain number of nitrates?

Lucy

I change the water once a week, if your tank is overstocked, more often might be necessary.

jdhef

I also do a weekly water change of 30% to 50%. The water change not only helps with nitrates, but also the new water is supposed to have more oxegen in it.

But in theory you could just wait until you are getting a nitrate reading of 40.