What does my water test results mean?

[SharonW]

I bought all these tests individually but am still learning what they all mean. So here's what I've got
PH 7.5
GH 17 ( is this high?? Was only 4 when I started up tank)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 1mg

I know the Ammonia is bad, will do a 50 % water change on the weekend, and clean my cannister or is this too much? I usually do a 20%. Water has gone quite cloudy too, but am wondering if this is because they are hardly eating and leave alot of food? Sorry if I sound like a complete noob, I am!!

 

[cichlid2006]

I bought all these tests individually but am still learning what they all mean. So here's what I've got
PH 7.5
GH 17 ( is this high?? Was only 4 when I started up tank)
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
Ammonia 1mg

I know the Ammonia is bad, will do a 50 % water change on the weekend, and clean my cannister or is this too much? I usually do a 20%. Water has gone quite cloudy too, but am wondering if this is because they are hardly eating and leave alot of food? Sorry if I sound like a complete noob, I am!!

whatever you do DO NOT touch your filter, your test results tell me your tank is cycling. the cloudy water is likely the result of a bacterial bloom and the fish arent eating because they are suffering as it appears the tank is cycling. its important that you answer all of the following questions:

how long has the tank been set up?
when did you add the fish?
what fish are in there?
how large is the tank, dimensions please?
how often do you clean the filter?
how do you clean the filter?
what dechlorinator do you use for the new water? if its seachem prime i suggest dosing it immediately to detoxify the ammonia.

20-50% water changes are fine.
ph and GH (general hardness) are important where water chemistry is important to the fishes health. examples include malawi cichlids and dwarf cichlids such as rams. mostly though fish are tank bred and they are somewhat more tolerant of other water chemistries than their wild caught cousins and its generally unimportant providing extremes are avoided, ie tank bred angel fish in a ph8.5.

 

[SharonW]

The tank is a 5' with 2 x Tiger Oscars in it. I dosed the water for 7 days with Seachem Stability. My local aquarium said it would be fine to add fish after that 7 days. So all up tank has been running around 3 weeks. Filter I clean every 4 weeks, I wash the media in tank water. Will do a water change today,but what else should I do if tank is actually still cycling?? I feel really bad for the fish now! :-(

 

[SharonW]

Went and bought some Seachem AmGuard today and dosed tank, I also did a 30% water change and treated with Stability again. Hope my fish can hang on until tank finishes cycling. Maybe I should go post this in the stupid things you have done section......................

 

[navygirl76]

im assuming these are baby oscars? your tank is in the beginning stage of a cycle.. and after 3 weeks i would have expected to see your nitrites rise-but it could stand to reason that you only have two small fish in a large tank (which they will grow into eventually lol).

dont be overzealous in cleaning the filter right now.. honestly you could probably go more than a month without touching it if the oscars are still babies.. once they grow, and eat and poop more, then you bump up the filter cleaning..

just be patient-dont worry about the cloudiness, im guessing its a bacterial bloom. do SMALL waterchanges while the tank is cycling.. you dont want to keep retriggering cycles.. i use seachem Prime in my water and nothing else when im cycling a tank.. i just sit back and let nature take its course...

just fyi it usually takes around 50 days or so for a tank to cycle fully..

 

[cichlid2006]

prime is a one tool for multiple jobs, rather than buying loads of products. it dechlorinates, detoxifies ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. using prime will let your fish have a normal life during the cycle and improve their survivability during it.

the store was wrong to tell you to stock after 7 days, they were probably hoping you would go back for all sorts of products and more fish because the oscars dies.