audreydelia21

I have a question for anyone who has more brains than this blond : I have three large fish in a 40 gal tank and change 20 gal of water weekly. I also use the Quick Dip test strip......well the colors never match the colors on the box......I just changed 10 gals and tested the water. Here is what I got.............nitrate on box light pink on strip HOT PINK.....nitrite on box looks beige on strip is almost white...hardness on box is olive green, strip an orange color...alkalinity box slight yellow color, strip aqua green and pH box light orange, strip looks dark coral.
I'm I using the wrong test strip or maybe the wrong chemicals? And what happened to my charcoal filter? I have am under gravel filter and it has the small plastic charcoal filters.......WELL.....today when I changed the water, one filter was gone. It was no where in the tank. Could my large pacas have eaten the WHOLE thing?
I'm very lost

sgould

Hi! You won't find very many proponents of the test strips here. Most of us have found them to be unreliable as they are frequently very in accurate. Liquid test kits, while admittedly more expensive, are much better and will deliver test results you can be comfortable with. The most commonly used kit seems to be the API Freshwater Master test kit. You can find it at a store for $30-40, or order it online for about half that.

Not sure what to tell you on the missing filter! I wouldn't think the fish would eat that. It hasn't fallen behind or under a plant or decoration or anything? Weird!

audreydelia21

No the filter is no where in the tank I can't put many decorations in my tank... my fish have eaten the plastic plants also they have eaten the rubber off the heater cord until the wires were bare........silly fish I will try ti buy the master test kit soon and see what it shows. I live in an area with very hard water and will soon buy a PUR filter for my kitchen sink...maybe this will also help a bit.

COBettaCouple

yea, the api test kit is pretty accurate. the test strips are known for wild results and i wonder if that box of strips is expired or something? that could give odd colors.

i'm not sure where that filter piece would go, we've never had a UGF, all of our filters are HOB except the Biowheel filters in the 5g hex tanks. You might end up having to pull the decor out and search for that lost piece.

vin

Pretty scary....Why was the cord for the heater in the tank in the first place? The top of the heater should not be submerged. Also, the test results will be different if you test right after a water change.....The best thing to do is test prior to changing your water. If you vary your tests from before water changes one time to after water changes another time, you will be more likely to see different results.

sgould

There are a number of heaters on the market now that are fully submersible. I'm sure the one in question is one of those.

vin

Ah - thanks...I guess I wouldn't feel safe with that for the reason she gave....

griffin

maybe not for her fish, but i'm pretty sure a submersible is safe with most fish. sure does prevent overheating heaters during water changes.

vin

I guess I'm just not comfortable with submersible, electric and water.....

COBettaCouple

i love the visitherm submersibles.

sgould

Yah...I have two of them, they are great heaters!