Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH test results
kveill
about 3 weeks. I have a 100 gallon fish only tank(2 damsels and 4 clowns). I
bought a Sailfert Marine testing kit and have tested my water a few times
and everything seemed fine or non existent except for my Nitrate. My wife
and I wanted to add more fish to the tank so we brought our water sample to
our LFS. The water sample was out of the water for about 40-50min( not by
choice). before they were able to test it. When they did test it my Nitrates
were a little high which was expected but my Ammonia was really high. Could
the time the bag was out of water cause my Ammonia to jump up to high
levels? I don't think that would have anything to do with the high levels
but nothing surprises me anymore with this tank. If not I obliviously don't
know how to read my test kit.
Slartibartfast
kevi...@yahoo.com says...
There is nothing that would make the ammonia level rise on the way to
the fish store. You should not have six fish in a three week old tank,
and you absolutely should not put more in the tank. Read about how to
cycle a new tank. All tanks go through an ammonia spike as their
biological filtration gets established. If you have fish during this
period, they are fairly likely to die because ammonia is poisonous to
them. Saltwater fish are much more complex than freshwater, and you
need to do a lot of reading before doing anything to your tank, or you
will just waste money and kill fish.
kveille
had it running for about 3 years. When I went to pick it up I helped him
empty the tank and breakdown the entire system. We saved about 40 gallons of
his water and made our own R.O. water to fill it back up. The fish that are
in our tank are the same fish that were in his tank. From the time we broke
it down to the time we set it back up was about 24hrs. So I wouldn't really
think it would have to cycle again.
"Slartibartfast" <n...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.1787d5733f386d89989755@news-server...
Ed Hughes
news:YfoT8.4405$wj4.5...@e3500-atl2.usenetserver.com...
> I have tested my water regularly since I have only had the tank and fish
for
> about 3 weeks. I have a 100 gallon fish only tank(2 damsels and 4 clowns).
I
> bought a Sailfert Marine testing kit and have tested my water a few times
> and everything seemed fine or non existent except for my Nitrate. My wife
> and I wanted to add more fish to the tank so we brought our water sample
to
> our LFS. The water sample was out of the water for about 40-50min( not by
> choice). before they were able to test it. When they did test it my
Nitrates
> were a little high which was expected but my Ammonia was really high.
Could
Please quantify "really high."
> the time the bag was out of water cause my Ammonia to jump up to high
> levels? I don't think that would have anything to do with the high levels
> but nothing surprises me anymore with this tank. If not I obliviously
don't
> know how to read my test kit.
I can't think of any reason for the ammonia to go up, unless there was
something in the container holding your water.
If your current fish are fine, I suggest just being a little patient and
holding off another two or three weeks before adding anything else, and then
add only one thing at a time. Slow and steady wins the race and all that.
Ed
DefLizard
bacteria that processes waste (ammonia). This is because neither you or
the previous fish owner knows the why's and wherefore's of biological
filters, and your experiencing what would be considered a brand new
tank. If you'd had saved all the bio materials where these bacteria
reside, and kept this in sw, this wouldn't have happened, and its _not_
the water! At this point I would ask your LFS to board your fish until
ammonia and nitrite levels are zero, and in the interim get some reading
material on the basics of marine aquariums.
HTH
Re: Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate and pH test results
Group: rec.aquaria.marine.misc Date: Sat, Jun 29, 2002, 4:17pm (PDT+2)
From: kevi...@yahoo.com (kveille)
http://community.webtv.net/deflizard/doc
regards, John