Perfect water health?

[Capo]

Hey,
Well see here, yesterday I checked my tanks pH, Ammonia, Nitrates and Nitirites.
I had checked my smaller tank before and realised that the pH was 7.0, ammonia and nitrates were 0 and the nitrites were at 80ppm.

So it came to check my bigger tank (after i had just released my new catfish in there, he was breathing heavily so a water test was in order) and found that ph was a low 6.0, nitrates and ammonia were 0 and nitrites were 0...may sound normal right? but the strange thing is (it may sound bad/cruel) that i have not done a water change in this tank for months, and months.....

I have no idea why! all i have for filtration is a 1500lph powerhead with media, and another powerhead for flow. A few plants (about 10 small ones) and about 8 fish (all under 7") in my 75 gal 4 footer. I am stumped! and the test kit can not be old as i have just bought it a month ago.

Any suggestions?

 

[Vitaliy]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/water_changes.php
http://www.pets-warehouse.com/waterchg.htm
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/wchanges.htm
http://www.algone.com/water_changes.htm

Get reading. Go do 10% water changes for the next three days, and then move up to 30% water changes weekly. After second week of 30% check your water again and see if you need to step up the water changes.

This is ridiculous that you are aware of water changes as it is discussed a great deal on here yet you just go leave it the hell alone for a couple of months and wonder what is happening.

 

[danny boy]

http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/water_changes.php
http://www.pets-warehouse.com/waterchg.htm
http://www.thetropicaltank.co.uk/wchanges.htm
http://www.algone.com/water_changes.htm

Get reading. Go do 10% water changes for the next three days, and then move up to 30% water changes weekly. After second week of 30% check your water again and see if you need to step up the water changes.

This is ridiculous that you are aware of water changes as it is discussed a great deal on here yet you just go leave it the hell alone for a couple of months and wonder what is happening.

i will echo that spot on advice! to be honest i feel sorry for your fish. what you are doing is like having a dog in a box and leaving it in its own s**t. you'd get prosecuted for animal cruelty here in the UK

the fact that you have zero nitrates in a tank that hasnt had any water changes for an age probably means your test kit is very wrong. its impossible to have zero nitrates on a tank thats cycled.

the firt tannk with high nitrites points to it not being cycled at all is this a newly set up tank? or have you messed with the filter? your results are very odd.

 

[Miles]

Sounds like your smaller tank hasn't finished its cycle, or dosn't have enough biological filtration to break down waste properly.

The larger tank is asking for trouble with the lack of water changes. Rather then doing a larger water change, you will have to revive the tank with multiple small water changes, so you don't cause a giant shift in water paramaters.

My guess about the Nitrates being at 0 in the larger tank is that the little plant life you have
has eaten all the nitrates available, (probably Algae too).. HOWEVER, there is also a build up of DOCs (Dissolved Organic Compounds), that are untestable, but also acidify the water.. When a buildup of wastes like that is present (even if Nitrates are not registering), the acids in the water will cause the pH to drastically drop.

I see this all the time with larger, over-stocked tanks that use undergravel filters and aren't properly maintained (cleaning/water changes).. What usually happens is 'all my fish suddenly died' or 'help all my fish suddenly got sick..'.. When I worked at PetSmart, this was most common with people who have 75-90g tanks, who either have mollies or oscars overcrowded and never maintain the tank..

Just make sure you don't try to cure the problem by doing a massive water change, because the swing in pH usually kills the fish.

It really dosn't say how much fish you have, but my suggestion would be to add some filtration (often powerheads don't cut it when you have a larger bioload, go with hang-on-back or canister).. And try to AT MINIMUM do a partial water change every few weeks.. The more the better!

Good luck!

 

[downset21]

crucified online, lol... but I do agree with them. I actually enjoy doing water changes for some odd reason.

 

[Capo]

haha, yeah i know i should be crucified.
but dont worry, i have bought all of the necessary equipment a week ago to do water changes.
i never used to do them because i was scared of filling up my aquarium with cold water etc, now i'll put the water in the bath first then use powerhead to push water in a hose.
Cheers for the advice all!
Water changes will be on my weekly schedule from now on.

Just to make sure, are you guys saying there will be a spike in nitrates/ammonia/nitites when i do water changes?

 

[Capo]

the fact that you have zero nitrates in a tank that hasnt had any water changes for an age probably means your test kit is very wrong. its impossible to have zero nitrates on a tank thats cycled.

You think the test kit is wrong? well it is brand new, and i really doubt that it is old.
its a good test kit, and if it read the first tanks peramiters properly then why doesnt it read this tanks?

Just because you cant figure out why something happened, you cant just point it out to be faulty equipment.