Day 2 of cycling
- Thread starter coldreptiliancalculations
- Start date
Hello; A general view over time I gather from reading threads is the master kits are more trusted. Strips are reported to be less trusted. Guess it has to do with age and exposure. Keep the chemical within the shelf life dates. One of the reasons i suggest distilled water (DW) is it becomes a way to get a sense of the true water parameters. DW should have no minerals and ought to be pH neutral. (NOTE- in chemistry labs I have known they use tap water run thru a system and not from boiling water and then condensing the steam. I did not run the labs so had to take their word for it)
The other use of DW is for cleaning the vials of the test kit. Being void of minerals is reported to allow the DW to pickup deposits better. Perhaps like a sponge.
Eventually when the tank has sufficient bb the only common thing to check will be nitrates. For whatever reason 20 ppm is considered good enough. Many get away with much higher levels. So, some range of opinions. Compared to wild waters even 20 ppm is a lot.
It has already been mentioned but I will say it again. The bb are living things and their populations will adjust to their nutrient supply which is ammonia in the first instance. Add new fish and there can be extra ammonia. It will take some time for the bb populations to increase. Not, i figure, as slow as the initial cycle. So, adding big fish or a lot of fish can get you an ammonia spike for a few days. Having a large fish die and decay in the water can also get an ammonia spike plus decay products. The bb are constantly, but slowly, adjusting to their available food.
(there is a second set of bb which takes in nitrite and releases it as changed into nitrates but you do not have to normally think about that. Fish plus decay and such produce ammonia. The first bb use the ammonia as a nutrient and convert it to nitrite. The second sort of bb take up nitrite and expel it as the some less toxic nitrate. The fish keeper, you, do WC to keep the nitrate levels down.
The other use of DW is for cleaning the vials of the test kit. Being void of minerals is reported to allow the DW to pickup deposits better. Perhaps like a sponge.
Eventually when the tank has sufficient bb the only common thing to check will be nitrates. For whatever reason 20 ppm is considered good enough. Many get away with much higher levels. So, some range of opinions. Compared to wild waters even 20 ppm is a lot.
It has already been mentioned but I will say it again. The bb are living things and their populations will adjust to their nutrient supply which is ammonia in the first instance. Add new fish and there can be extra ammonia. It will take some time for the bb populations to increase. Not, i figure, as slow as the initial cycle. So, adding big fish or a lot of fish can get you an ammonia spike for a few days. Having a large fish die and decay in the water can also get an ammonia spike plus decay products. The bb are constantly, but slowly, adjusting to their available food.
(there is a second set of bb which takes in nitrite and releases it as changed into nitrates but you do not have to normally think about that. Fish plus decay and such produce ammonia. The first bb use the ammonia as a nutrient and convert it to nitrite. The second sort of bb take up nitrite and expel it as the some less toxic nitrate. The fish keeper, you, do WC to keep the nitrate levels down.
I trust both but can visualize the color faster with api test.
Hmm that's a bit of a surprise. On the one hand I trust to liquid test kit over strips, but on the other hand I'd be a bit surprised if your tank was completely cycled in 2 weeks time. I'm not saying it's not possible, I'm just a hobbyist, but mine took twice that long even with bottled bacteria. But I didn't use the same brand as you, mine was a few years ago now, and every tank is different. I'd probably just keep testing over the next few days and if results are consistent then you're probably good.
I did have an experience many years ago when my lfs kept telling me my phosphates were through the roof and I kept trying to fix my tank through large water changes, phosgard, other carbon media, etc. and they kept coming back saying it was still way high. Eventually I took in 2 samples, 1 in the same little tupperware I had been using for water samples for the past several trips, and 1 in a ziploc bag. The plastic tupperware water tested high, the ziploc bag was completely normal. I had grabbed the tupperware out of the garage just for transporting water to the lfs, and have no idea what was in it long before that had seeped into the plastic, but even after heavy cleaning and soaking with dishsoap and very hot water it would still affect testing after water had been transported in it. Long story to say that sometimes you could both be right but it may not be a tank problem. My tank was fine the entire time and I'd stressed and bought things I didn't need to solve a problem I didn't have. Also taught me to have supplies dedicated to the fishtank that were never used for anything else.
I did have an experience many years ago when my lfs kept telling me my phosphates were through the roof and I kept trying to fix my tank through large water changes, phosgard, other carbon media, etc. and they kept coming back saying it was still way high. Eventually I took in 2 samples, 1 in the same little tupperware I had been using for water samples for the past several trips, and 1 in a ziploc bag. The plastic tupperware water tested high, the ziploc bag was completely normal. I had grabbed the tupperware out of the garage just for transporting water to the lfs, and have no idea what was in it long before that had seeped into the plastic, but even after heavy cleaning and soaking with dishsoap and very hot water it would still affect testing after water had been transported in it. Long story to say that sometimes you could both be right but it may not be a tank problem. My tank was fine the entire time and I'd stressed and bought things I didn't need to solve a problem I didn't have. Also taught me to have supplies dedicated to the fishtank that were never used for anything else.
I cleaned my API test tubes very well and tested again, 0 ammonia 0 nitrite
Dipstick? Says my nitrite is high.
I genuinely cannot figure out for the life of me why these 2 tests are coming up with conflicting results. I tried aquarium only / brand new glassware to test from and everything
Dipstick? Says my nitrite is high.
I genuinely cannot figure out for the life of me why these 2 tests are coming up with conflicting results. I tried aquarium only / brand new glassware to test from and everything
Hello; Have you ever looked at a group of thermometers is a store display? I have from time to time. Usually find some which differ from the others. My way to select is to see which set have the same reading and dismiss the outliers. My point being the sort of test kits we can buy for home use are not going to be accurate to the level of the best testing equipment.
I do not know if there has ever been a poll thread about which test method it best. Let me say again my recollection of reading posts on here since 2011 tends to point toward the master test kits being considered more accurate. Another way to consider it is this. If the majority of experienced tank maintainers are using the master test kits and trusting the kit results to keep healthy tanks, then such ought to be at least a clue.
You nor any other member of a fish site have to go by the way the rest of us go. you get to run your tanks any way you wish. I run UGF in my tanks and have for decades. Such is panned by some on here. I was lucky in that back in 2011 when I first got a decent internet signal I already had many decades of aquarium experience. (since 1959) When some with a particular agenda tried to shout me down, I had experience to know what worked already. As a new fish keeper you will have to wade thru conflicting suggestions at times. Good luck with that.
Let me ask this. Have you picked up a gallon of distilled water (DW) yet? I got several gallons last year at Wal-Mart for around a dollar a gallon. Get some and use the dipstick in that. Then test the DW for nitrites with a master kit. Might give you a clue. (NOTE- the DW can be used to rinse the test vials)
Last thought this post. When using the master test kits, I seem to recall that the vials need to be shaken. Shake hard is a suggestion I have read.
Last- last thought. Using brand new glass ware may be like brand new underwear. I always wash new undies before i wear them all day to get potential chemical irritants out.
