Latest Readings - Something's funny

[mimzy]

Hi all! OK...I've been shamefully neglecting my tank throughout October because of holidays and family and whatnot, and have thusly suffered a cyano outbreak.
I just spent 45 minutes scraping it off of every surface I could get to in the tank (that's a lotta time for a 12 gallon tank!!!), and tried to get as much of it out as possible. I've begun a regimen for fewer hours of light each day, and I am also planning to do a series of progressively larger water changes (1.5 gallons tommorrow, 3 gallons Friday, 5 gallons sunday).
I took all the readings I've got equipment to test, and am a bit confuzzled by my results.
Could they be off b/c of all the algae/cyano scarping I did an hour ago?
Any thoughts would be GREATLY appreciated!
Ammonia; 0
NitrAte; 80
Nitrite; 0
Alkalinity; 180/240
ph; 8.4
Salinity; 33
SG; 1.024

 

[snailheave]

cyano feeds off phosphate and you still don't have a phosphate test

 

[exile415]

Ouch mimzy. Nitrate 80 !! just keep doing those water changes

 

[mimzy]

yes. I am aware that I do not have a phosphate test, thank u professor snailypoopyhead.
After the huge vet bills we'll have to pay for updating Whisky's shots and taking our kitten for her first visit tommorrow, I'll be able to afford new testing equipment.
Phosphate tests, calcium tests, reliable alkalinity tests, hopefully a refractometer, and some more carbon.
I was just wondering if anyone could help me make sense of the readings I HAVE, or if they're really just completely garbled and most likely the result of bad testing equipment.

 

[mimzy]

thanx Exile, I'll keep up with them.
I can't believe I let things go for so long.
I was just confused - if my trates were so high, shouldn't I have trites, too? ...or ammonia?

 

[mimzy]

ugh, also - 4got 2 mention...there are small patches of tiny little green dots on the front acrylic of my tank. It was too hard to get off with my tank toothbrush, and the snails cant seem to chew through it either.
any suggestions as to how to get rid of this stuff? ... if it wasn't acrylic I'd take a razor to it.

 

[lamaface]

I highly recommend getting a phosphate test. That may be the cause of all your problems. Carry on with your water changes just dont take out too much water at once as it could kill your fishys. Take a reading a day after you clean your tank not an hour. Take another reading tomorrow.

 

[snailheave]

i stopped taking my cats in for vaccinations because i found out they were not needed on a yearly basis.

 

[mimzy]

what vaccinations were they getting yearly?? rabies is by law once every 3 years, and distemper is a 3 series shot for kittens, single shot for adult cats - some like to boost every year, but recent studies show it might be over doing it. urs r indoor cats, right? they wouldn't need lyme vaccines - what were u vaccinating for?

 

[snailheave]

i have no freaking idea and it pisses me off that the vets were ripping me off while my cats felt like crap i took them in for the shots.
i am going to sue them.

 

[stang66200]

Your readings perfectly reflect the nitgogen cycle in an established tank.
Ammonia ---> nitrite ---> nitrate
Nitrate is a dead end in most any closed system, so you have to do water changes to get rid of it.
Hope that makes everything make a bit more sense.

 

[mimzy]

Stang, if there was a thank-u song, I'd sing it.
Oh wait...there is...
thankuverymuch, thankuverymuch, thank u, thank u, thank u, thank u VERY much!!!
Yay! No longer loosing my mind

 

[stang66200]

No problem . . .

 

[mimzy]

Snail, don't sue - it's pretty recent (like in the last 5 years) that the vet community has been discovering it was unecessary to vaccinate so often. Different vets belong to different schools of thought, urs probably just hasn't jumped on the "it IS possible to over-vaccinate" bandwagon yet.
Maybe call around to different vets in the area and see what they all have to say?
Also - I don't know what the laws are for California - or your individual city. Vets might HAVE to vaccinate by law.
Call ur vet, ask.

 

[mimzy]

Stang... do you by any chance have a... Stang?

 

[stang66200]

My first car was a 1966 Mustang . . . I did a lot of modifications and work on it, but I had to sell it before I graduated college for a more reliable car.
I will be getting another Mustang in 3 - 6 months . . . Mom wants a new car, so the '99 GT Limited Edition (from the Rusty Wallace commercials) is all mine.
I miss the rumbling exhaust of my '66, but I do not miss the crossing of fingers everytime I turned the key to start it.

 

[mimzy]

::drool::

 

[stang66200]

One day I hope the '99 (since it was a limited edition of only 8000) will be a collector type car . . . but it will also keep me from doing anything crazy to it.
:happyfish

 

[mimzy]

I like the 99. I get made fun of by my Husband and his car-loving friends for that - they're all 'purists.' I just love the cutouts on the sides, and i really dig the front end.
I HATED the '06 when I first saw it, but our neighbor has one with all the trimmings and we get to hear it purr when he takes it out. Lemme tell u, that thing is growing on me - if only for the spectacular sound!