Some of you know that I've been struggling with high pH, 8.2 and higher, but since I took your advice and did a major water change with spring water, my pH has been 7.6 for 3 days. I also have Ammonia 0, Nitrite 0, and Nitrate 0. Is this what I'm shooting for? Also...
1. I double up on my filter pads and add an extra media bag with charcoal. I change the older pad every 2 weeks. How often do I change the charcoal?
2. I have one acrylic tank and I wiped down some water spots on the exterior with just wet paper towel and it left some minor scratches on the acrylic. What should I use and can I buff out those scratches?
3. With my current readings what is the recommended water change frequency and amount. It's 28 gallon with a light bio load.
I've done some research on these questions but I get really different answers.
Your parameters look fine except I still don't understand how you have zero for nitrates in a non-heavily planted tank. I think something is wrong there, but I have already said that before. I would invest in a new nitrate test kit. Carbon becomes deactivated after about 3-4 weeks so this will be when you want to change it out. You can read the article I wrote on using carbon in the articles section to see some more things on carbon use.
I always have had glass aquariums so I am no use on the acrylic question. I know they sell kits to buffer scratches in these aquarium, but I cannot comment on their effectiveness.
I personally change 20%-25% every week. I would say as long as you are doing at least 20-25% every 1-2 weeks, you should be fine. I wake up Saturday mornings and do it so I have a routine. Its nice to wake up and do it.
Anyway, that is what I would recommend and again, something is wrong with your nitrates. Congrats on getting your pH down and steady. I'm glad that worked - nice recommendation, Peter.
i agree with miami, if the tank is showing 0 for nitrates there is something seriously wrong there, i think that the test kit is passed it's usefulness, i would probably buy a whole new kit completely, across the boards, but that's just me. congrats on the ph decrease, your cycle should be starting or rather should have started over so keep a good eye on your lvls and see what they read about every third day or so, for about two to three weeks, i know a lot of work, but better to make sure the tank stays stable for the first three weeks of re-cycle than to not do the work and have another catastrophe.
Good luck,
Brandon
Brandon just means that your tank may go through another mini-cycle depending on how much water you changed out. He is saying to monitor the nitrites, ammonia, and nitrate to see if it does indeed and so you can do water changes to keep the spikes down if it does indeed. Usually tests are good for 6 months, but there is something really messed up with your nitrate one so I would be suspicious. Maybe it laid out on the shelf at the store for a reallt long time - who knows. All I know is that you should be seeing something. Your readings look like you just started your tank an hour ago. You are not still adding all those chemicals, right?
I'm only adding dechlorinator now. I changed about 40% on Tuesday the 8th. So for four days my readings have been the same as above....0 everything and pH 7.6. Wouldn't a mini-cycle have shown up by now?
I think the pet store sells a Nitrate-only drop test, maybe I should get one of those. To buy the entire test kit again is pricey. Although, if the nitrate test is bad I would replace the whole kit.
This might seem silly, but I have done this before (and miami can attest to it)... but are you doing your nitrate test the same as you always have? if you don't perform the test exactly as it states, you won't show any nitrates... just a thought.
Hhhmmmm. I just executed the nitrate test again and got something closer to 5.0ppm. I'm sure I'm doing the same steps:
1. Fill the tube up to the 5ml line
2. Add 10 drops of Nitrate #1
3. Cap and invert several times
4. Shake the #2 bottle for at least 30 seconds
5. Add 10 drops of #2
6. Cap and shake for at least 1 minute
7. Wait 5 minutes and read
I don't know why I get a reading this time...but these are the same steps.
Yeah, that is good news. I think what spongebob was saying was that you need to be sure to shake it for the entire specified time. I have seen several instances where people did not shake it for the whole 30 seconds or 1 minutes and they got incorrect results. I am glad something is showing up now.
Yes, you would have seen a minicycle by now, but that is assuming that your tests are working.
So do I now have the desired numbers? Ammonia = 0, Nitrites = 0, Nitrates = 5ppm, and pH around 7.6?
I achieved the lower pH by using spring water (our tap water is pH 8.2) so does this mean that to maintain this lower pH I'll need to continue using a combination of spring and tap water?
And if these numbers are good, I think I'm understanding a maintenance routine of 10-15% water change weekly or a 25% every two weeks, changing the filter pad and charcoal every two weeks.
I think I've almost got it! My tank does look really great, even with the recent bad numbers. I'll have to post a pic so you guys can see what you've help create!
Yeah, your number look good now. One way to check to see if your nitrate test is working is not to do a water change for about a week and a half or so. You should see the nitrates start to creep up to 10 ppm and such. If you are not seeing this then I am still betting your nitrate test is giving you incorrect results. In fact, one of the ways you can tell how often you need to do water changes is to monitor the nitrates as they rise in your tank. You don't want them above 20 ppm so more often than not, people will figure out how long it takes for the nitrate to reach about 15 ppm. They will then know how often to do water changes. This is the most scientific method and I would recommend you try this little test to see what happens with your tank.
Changing the carbon every 2 weeks is a bit extreme in my opinion. I know some people say it deactivates very quickly, but back when I was not so religious about water changes, I could tell when the carbon became deactivated from the smell. It usually is closer to 3-4 weeks. Changing it on a monthly basis should be fine.
Oh, and yes you will need to always need to use spring water from here on out since your tap water has too high of a pH for your fish. I'm not sure if you need to mix it. You need to look on the bottle and see if it says it is distilled. If it is then you will need to mix it. If it is not, then it probably has the trace elements you need. To be sure I would test it for kH, gH, and pH. As long as the pH is in the correct range and your kH is above 4.5 dH then you should be fine and you will not have to mix it before adding it. Let us know how it turns out.
