Hi, so Ive been having some issues with my fish acting weird lately and trying to get a grasp on my water parameters. I have several questions and instead of making several threads Im going to post it all at once. Water parameters are as followed: 0 Ammonia, 0 Nitrite, 8.2-8.3 ph, temp 82. The tests that Im having trouble with are Nitrate, GH, and KH. Im having difficult with these, I get different test results from different testing methods. The two methods I use are API liquid tests and API test strips.
1) Ill start with the Nitrate. Im an idiot and have been testing the nitrates with the liquid test incorrectly. Once I followed the correct instructions my liquid nitrate test showed the results were 40-80 ppm. Hard to tell on the chart but I think closer to 80 than 40. So I did the following cleaned my filter, waited a week then started to perform water changes (cleaned gravel) every other day for a week. The nitrate liquid test still showed a 40ppm to 80ppm result. I went and bought the API test strips to confirm but the API test strips show my nitrates are 0-20 ppm. I know that the liquid tests are usually more accurate but have trouble thinking that 3 30% water changes in a week and cleaning of filter (filter was really dirty) the prior week would do nothing to lower the levels. Anyone else ever had this issue? Im leaning toward thinking that in this case the test strips might be more accurate but what do you guys think? Any other testing methods I should use? Ps- Tap water level of nitrates is 5ppm.
2) Now Ill talk KH and GH. I dont know the exact levels of my KH as its hard to tell but KH is at least 214PPM using the API liquid test. (214.8 is highest reading on the chart) KH using the API test strips is closest to the 240ppm. GH is the one I have most questions about. Using liquid test results your spose to add one drop at a time and keep adding drops till the water in the tube turns from orange to green. After two or three drop it turns a light green and gets darker as you add more drops. Does anyone know are you spouse to stop once you see even a tint of green or do you keep adding until its dark? If you stop once its a light green results show 35-53ppm. My API test strip results show 0-30ppm.
So my question about KH/GH are, is it odd for my KH to be really high and GH low? I live in Iowa and water here is really hard, Im also on well water. So it seems odd to me that my GH is low. Im calling my landlord tomorrow to see if there is a water softener in my apartment building that I dont know about but other than that I guess is it normal for High KH, high PH, and Low GH. Ps- tap water KH/GH is same as tank water.
Any input, info, or advice on any of the following questions would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance.
1) Ill start with the Nitrate. Im an idiot and have been testing the nitrates with the liquid test incorrectly. Once I followed the correct instructions my liquid nitrate test showed the results were 40-80 ppm. Hard to tell on the chart but I think closer to 80 than 40. So I did the following cleaned my filter, waited a week then started to perform water changes (cleaned gravel) every other day for a week. The nitrate liquid test still showed a 40ppm to 80ppm result. I went and bought the API test strips to confirm but the API test strips show my nitrates are 0-20 ppm. I know that the liquid tests are usually more accurate but have trouble thinking that 3 30% water changes in a week and cleaning of filter (filter was really dirty) the prior week would do nothing to lower the levels. Anyone else ever had this issue? Im leaning toward thinking that in this case the test strips might be more accurate but what do you guys think? Any other testing methods I should use? Ps- Tap water level of nitrates is 5ppm.
2) Now Ill talk KH and GH. I dont know the exact levels of my KH as its hard to tell but KH is at least 214PPM using the API liquid test. (214.8 is highest reading on the chart) KH using the API test strips is closest to the 240ppm. GH is the one I have most questions about. Using liquid test results your spose to add one drop at a time and keep adding drops till the water in the tube turns from orange to green. After two or three drop it turns a light green and gets darker as you add more drops. Does anyone know are you spouse to stop once you see even a tint of green or do you keep adding until its dark? If you stop once its a light green results show 35-53ppm. My API test strip results show 0-30ppm.
So my question about KH/GH are, is it odd for my KH to be really high and GH low? I live in Iowa and water here is really hard, Im also on well water. So it seems odd to me that my GH is low. Im calling my landlord tomorrow to see if there is a water softener in my apartment building that I dont know about but other than that I guess is it normal for High KH, high PH, and Low GH. Ps- tap water KH/GH is same as tank water.
Any input, info, or advice on any of the following questions would be extremely helpful. Thanks in advance.