skippi

I am a newbie and am currently having trouble getting my water levels right. I have been checking out this sight and have gotten a lot of info just reading about others problems. You guys are great. So now my problem;
I have a 15 gallon tank with a pleco, 7 platy, 5 bleeding heart tetras, male betta, and a blue crawfish. Under gravel filtration system and a bubble curtain are in tank.
I have been testing my water levels with test strips and my readings are (NO+3)=40, (NO-2)=5.0, Hardness=300, alkalinity=180-300, And pH = 8.4.
Please Advise. I am using bottled water since after losing a lot of fish found that our city water sucks.. Thanks

New Readings with liquid not strips. Nitrites(NO-2)= 2 Hardness=12 pH=7.8 ammonia= 3 Much more accurate and can just test what you need Thanks for the suggestion..

vin

Hi and welcome to fishlore!

From the looks of things, it sounds as if your tank has not cycled yet. A good read would be the article for beginners that outlines the nitrogen cycle. It will help you to understand the balance of your water and why it needs to be 'right' for fish.

Also, if I may make a suggestion and recommend doing away with test strips. It's true that they are inexpensive and easy to use, but it's also true that they are not very accurate. I would recommend getting a liquid test kit. One of the best and most popular is the Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit. You can probably find it on line at PetSmart.com for less than you would be able to find it a your local fish store. I paid a little over $15 for mine. This will give you much more accurate results.

Once you get your test kit please post your readings here for the folks to read.

In a nutshell, the nitrogen process will go through several stages.

First, the ammonia (toxic to fish) will rise and spike for a period of about 7 days......As the ammonia begins to fall, the nitrites (more toxic to fish than ammonia) will begin to rise and spike for about another 7 days....As the nitrites rise, ammonia disappears and nitrates (far less toxic than ammonia or nitrites) will begin to show and level off after about 3-5 days. By this time the nitrites are on the way down.

Once your ammonia and nitrites read -0- and the nitrates are steady at <5 your tank has cycled.

While your tank is going through the cycle, you should:

1. Change 30% of your water daily since you have fish in the tank already. Use only a dechlorinator such as "Stress Coat" and nothing more for the clean water. Even if using spring water, the stress coat provides electrolytes for the fish. Changing water will help to minimize the stress on your fish and keep toxic levels down as best as possible.
2. Resist vacuuming your gravel heavily. Vacuum only 1/3 of the tank area lightly once a week and pick up only excess food and waste.
3. Test and record your water parameters daily.
4. DO NOT change the filter media during the cycle process.
5. If you're not sure, ask! We like to help!!

This is a great site full of people of all skill levels. They're really eager to help.

Good luck and have fun!