Water test results way off

Hello there,
My water test results have for a while now, seemed empty. I am pretty new to fish keeping. Even though I have done a ton of research, I do not have very much experience when it comes to testing water.

Ammonia: 0
GH: 0
KH: 0
PH: 6.5
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0

I am currently housing 1 betta and a couple platies in a ten gallon. These test results are far from ideal. I am worried that I have been testing my water incorrectly. I have been testing PH, GH, KH, Nitrate and Nitrite with the API 5 in 1 test strips. I test Ammonia with the API ammonia test strips. I also think I should mention, that I have cut all my test strips in half lengthwise, in an effort to save money on test strips. I heard somewhere that doing this does not alter the test results, but now I'm thinking that it might have, and cutting them was a really stupid move.
Have I been testing incorrectly, or is that my actual test? If it is....how would I get everything back to normal? My water parameters are all over the place!

Thank you for all your help....this is a problem that I need to get to fixing right away, but I'm not sure how.

-Willowfish

 

Is your tank planted? And did you cycle it before adding fish? It’s weird to have no kh/gh but if your tank is cycled and planted those parameters are normal but if not then the strips are wrong. Also test strips are notoriously known for being incorrect. I would highly recommend getting a API freshwater master test kit it will make testing and being sure your water is good much easier

 

Although getting the API testing kit is the best bet, maybe for now, you could take a water sample to your LFS. That would tell you if your strips are good or not.

 

I use the tetra test strips when I'm in a hurry, I cut them in half as well with no issues.
1. What is the readings of your source water?
2. What/where is your source water? Tap? City water? Well water? (Not judging as ive seen post where people use )Bottled water?
3. What substrate do you have?

Its odd that gh/kh is 0 but 6.5ph is slightly acidic so wild guess pending answers is possibly substrate. I use an alternative substrate that strips my kh from over 300ppm to 70ppm and ph 8.4 to 6.8. Let us know maybe we can help but as stated you can have it tested at a LFS for now.

 

Is your tank planted? And did you cycle it before adding fish? It’s weird to have no kh/gh but if your tank is cycled and planted those parameters are normal but if not then the strips are wrong. Also test strips are notoriously known for being incorrect. I would highly recommend getting a API freshwater master test kit it will make testing and being sure your water is good much easier

I have previously cycled my tank yes, and I do have a fair amount of hornwort and some Anubias. I have looked into getting the master test kit, but it seems to involve harsh chemicals that I am not sure are okay to put down the sink. I did a bit of research on how people dispose of the used test liquid, and it seems as if the majority of people dump it. Some take it to the hazardous waste disposable. At the time I felt like the test strips would leave less of a mark on the planet. How do you dispose of your used test material? I would like to look further into this now that I have the Fishlore community, also seeing that the master kit is much more accurate.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the water parameters need to be higher for everything that I tested other than PH? I know that bettas prefer soft water, but isn't this way too soft? I know that nitrates should be less than 40ppm, but is this much to little? I apologize, for all the trouble, I am a complete newbie.

-Willowfish

 

I have previously cycled my tank yes, and I do have a fair amount of hornwort and some Anubias. I have looked into getting the master test kit, but it seems to involve harsh chemicals that I am not sure are okay to put down the sink. I did a bit of research on how people dispose of the used test liquid, and it seems as if the majority of people dump it. Some take it to the hazardous waste disposable. At the time I felt like the test strips would leave less of a mark on the planet. How do you dispose of your used test material? I would like to look further into this now that I have the Fishlore community, also seeing that the master kit is much more accurate.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought that the water parameters need to be higher for everything that I tested other than PH? I know that bettas prefer soft water, but isn't this way too soft? I know that nitrates should be less than 40ppm, but is this much to little? I apologize, for all the trouble, I am a complete newbie.

-Willowfish

It’s alright for the questions that’s the whole point of fishlore. What I do with my test liquid is just dump it down the sink. I didn’t know others bring theirs somewhere it sound like a lot of work lol. And when you said you thought everything needs to be higher I’m not to sure about the softness needed for bettas but when your tank is cycled you want 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 0-30 nitrate but since you have a planted tank it could reduce your nitrates to 0 because plants absorb the nitrates. And like others said take your water to petco or pet smart and they can test it for you to see if your strips are accurate. But make sure to ask for actual numbers because they usually say it’s fine or “good”.