First Time Testing Water!!!!!help!!!

danrod911

danrod911

Member
Hi guys.
i have a 56 gallon tank that is 6 weeks old. a few days later after buying the tank i got three demsels. they are still alive. about 3 weeks ago i got snails because of the brown algae but two of them die few days ago. I recently got 25 pounds of live rock but 3 weeks ago i got 20 more pounds in it. i also got a cheap testing kit but it did not work, so today i got my new one that i ordered and need to know when is safe to put more fish in. it was my fisrt test since i got my tank.
Temperature- 81
PH- 8.2
Ammonia-.25 p.p.m
Nitrite- .1 p.p.m
Nitrate- between 10-20 p.p.m
if there is something i can do about lowering the levels.....please let me know??????
thanks DAN
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Wait until your ammonia and nitrites are zero, then do a water change to reduce your nitrates.
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Originally Posted by danrod911
how often should i change the water???? i did a 20 percent water change for the first month, is that ok???

Is your tank cycled???
If it is your ammonia and trites should already be zero, and your nitrates close to 0.
 
danrod911

danrod911

Member
i dont thnik it is......you can see in the first post......those are test results from about an hour ago...thanks....how often do you think i should change water and how much water.
 
alyssia

alyssia

Active Member
Originally Posted by danrod911
i dont thnik it is......you can see in the first post......those are test results from about an hour ago...thanks....how often do you think i should change water and how much water.

I misunderstood, from your post that said you did a water change for the month (I forget the exact wording) I thought you meant something else. Anyways, I do a 20 percent change every week, but I'm a little overstocked (I think).
 
S

sinner's girl

Guest
you have to cycle your tank first. Once am and nitrites are zero, do a water change then wait a few days and test again. Once nitrates are under 20 you can add fish/inverts.
Honestly, it's best to wait till a tank is cycled before adding fish/inverts.
how often do you think i should change water and how much water.
How often you do water changes depends on many things. Tank size, filteration, fish/inverts, #lr, ect. If you have a high bio load, frequent, larger wc are done. I normally do monthly. Latly i'm doing weekly/twice a week because I'm trying to fix a problem.
SOme do monthly, other bi-monthly and some weekly, others rarely change thier water. Once your tank is cycled do a water change, while it's new, test weekly, if see you nitrates go over 20, do water change, keep an eye on what you're doing. Did nitrates go up because you added a fish? or are you feeding too much? I would at least do 15-20% monthly to replace trace elements, but it's your tank.
With all that side, doing water changes untill your cycle is complete will delay your cycle, but it will be better for the fish/inverts you already have.
I always do a water change and test before adding a new fish/inverts. I never add anything new if there's a problem.
So you can either sit back and wait, or do weekly 15% (just a guess) water changes but that will delay your cycle. I'd just wait for the cycle. Then figure out what is best for your tank and your life. I have the time to do smaller weekly water changes now, before I didn't I did monthly (okay, in reality every three months, but I had small bioload and lots of lr)
about 3 weeks ago i got snails because of the brown algae but two of them die few days ago.
Most inverts don't do well in a tank that's cycling. It's best to wait till the cycle is complete before adding fish/inverts.
 
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