Water quality

[Santiago 210]

We left for about a month, had a auto feeder giving about 3/4 of the usual amount of food. When we came back, the glass had a little algae on it. Fish seemed fine. I just tested the water with a strip and a master water test. The nitrates, nitrites and ammonia were barely on scale. Almost like after a water change.
How is that possible?
Do test kits deteriorate? Or just lucky?
The tank is warm 30C, 86F.
18 fish average 4 inches in size.
210 gallon, 3 oase 600 filters.
E. Yellow
Dragon blood
Star Sapphire
VC 10

 

[Rocksor]

So what brand is the master water test? API? If so, I would shake bottle #2 of the nitrate test for more than 30 seconds (more like 2-3 minutes) very vigorously, and retest the nitrates.

 

[Santiago 210]

So what brand is the master water test? API? If so, I would shake bottle #2 of the nitrate test for more than 30 seconds (more like 2-3 minutes) very vigorously, and retest the nitrates.

Thanks,
After shaking bottles for awhile the nitrates show around 20ppm. That makes more sense.
Any suggestions on keeping nitrates even lower, we travel frequently.
20 ppm seems manageable after a month. But.
Some of the males may get alot bigger in time.

 

[FahakaPapa]

20 ppm after a month seems pretty good to me. Do you have plants in the tank? That would be my only suggestion on trying to lower the nitrates some more.

 

[esoxlucius]

20ppm nitrate after a month is damn good, considering you've still been feeding, albeit reduced amounts. Plants will help, as mentioned, but not much, unless you have loads of well established ones.

I'd consider a good feeding the week before you left, do your last water change, and then whilst you're away set your feeder to feed only 2-3 your reduced amount per week, or maybe one regular feeding per week. Honestly your fish will be fine, they'd probably even benefit from it, and it would undoubtedly reduce that 20ppm nitrate even more.

if I'm honest with you, if you are away for a month at a time, and regularly, feeding would be the least of my worries. I'd be more worried about evaporation, pump or tank failure, or a fish dying and no one there to remove it before it fouled the water.

 

[Santiago 210]

20ppm nitrate after a month is damn good, considering you've still been feeding, albeit reduced amounts. Plants will help, as mentioned, but not much, unless you have loads of well established ones.

I'd consider a good feeding the week before you left, do your last water change, and then whilst you're away set your feeder to feed only 2-3 your reduced amount per week, or maybe one regular feeding per week. Honestly your fish will be fine, they'd probably even benefit from it, and it would undoubtedly reduce that 20ppm nitrate even more.

if I'm honest with you, if you are away for a month at a time, and regularly, feeding would be the least of my worries. I'd be more worried about evaporation, pump or tank failure, or a fish dying and no one there to remove it before it fouled the water.

Yes, power outages scare me the most. I have 2 lithium backup air bubblers with 4 stones running while I am gone. Good for about a day.
I wish I could find a auto feeder I could set up for once a week. Are there any available?
3 large cannister filters give me some relief as it is not likely all 3 would fail. Thanks

 

[neutrino]

At least for now, tank size vs. stock size and numbers vs filtration are favorable imo. Adding plants may be a good investment for their getting larger and/or as adults you may want fewer fish in the tank. Depending how much you normally feed, you could likely tweak feeding down a little while you're gone imo.