Water Test

[salman]

pH: 5
General Hardness: 13
Carbonate Hardness: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 100 mg/l
Ammonia: 0

Everything looks fine except for the Nitrate. What is nitrate and why is it high? And what can i do to lower it?

[SkarloeysMom]

Large water change.

[salman]

Does it harm the fish?

[salman]

I just read an article about this, But should i be concerned about the Carbonate Hardness since its at 0?

[Rue]

...fish produce ammonia (so does decaying vegetation and food)...ammonia is VERY toxic...one kind of bacteria convert ammonia to nitrites...also VERY toxic...another bacteria converts nitrites to nitrates...

Nitrates are also very toxic...but at a much higher concentration...most FW tanks can manage 20 ppm without issue...I'd say 40 ppm is the max...if you get that high you need to do an immediate water change...

Plants will use some nitrates as fertilizer...but most of it YOU remove through regular water changes...

I was doing 33% every two weeks on my 25g for years...and it was fine...

Recently I changed to 10% weekly...and it's better.

The only danger of huge water changes is the possible 'shock' to the fish of finding themselves suddenly in a very different water make-up...

For example...a sudden change in nitrates (that they grown accustomed to slowly)...temperature...pH...and other factors is harsh! That's why smaller, regular water changes are so important...

Now having said that...you could do 100% changes on a regular basis as well, provided the old water and the new water were essentially the same...that's why bettas in bowls can survive with having all their water changed...if you do it every 2 days or so...

But most of us don't have the time or inclination to do regular 100% water changes...so we compromise with smaller, regular changes...

[salman]

Thank you Rue, you made it clear in my head lol

[Kuli_Loach]

I go by the bucket full on my larger tanks. On my smaller, I do 25% atleast weekly, usually more often then that.

[RobbieG]

I do 50% every week on mine - but my water and tap water are about the same all I need to do is match the temperature.

[dev]

For your nitrate problem, change 50% of the water today, then tomorrow change another 50%. That should give you 25 ppm, so you can resume normal waterchanges, normally 10-30% weekly depending on your load.

If this is the tank you are keeping your malawi cichlids in that KH should definately concern you. I don't reccomend keeping south americans with africans but if you have to, try to get the pH to about 7.0. Adding baking soda (hydrogenbicarbonate) will increase the KH and thus the pH.

[salman]

For your nitrate problem, change 50% of the water today, then tomorrow change another 50%. That should give you 25 ppm, so you can resume normal waterchanges, normally 10-30% weekly depending on your load.

If this is the tank you are keeping your malawi cichlids in that KH should definately concern you. I don't reccomend keeping south americans with africans but if you have to, try to get the pH to about 7.0.


The tank with the 0 KH i have discus fish in it. I have like 7 or 8 fish tanks, i cant keep track anymore. Everytime i see a new beautiful fish i buy a tank for it and for its mates lol.

And i dont get what KH is, i know its Carbonate Hardness, i read about it. But its not getting clear to me, I know its calcium and magnesium salts. But somewhere i read that discus hate salt, so it that ok?

I tested the water that my malawi cichilids are in, and it also says there is 0 KH. But, I've has the tank for 6 months now, and i dont remember any of the malawi cichlids dieing ever since i put them in. Should i be worried?

[dev]

The tank with the 0 KH i have discus fish in it. I have like 7 or 8 fish tanks, i cant keep track anymore. Everytime i see a new beautiful fish i buy a tank for it and for its mates lol.

And i dont get what KH is, i know its Carbonate Hardness, i read about it. But its not getting clear to me, I know its calcium and magnesium salts. But somewhere i read that discus hate salt, so it that ok?

I tested the water that my malawi cichilids are in, and it also says there is 0 KH. But, I've has the tank for 6 months now, and i dont remember any of the malawi cichlids dieing ever since i put them in. Should i be worried?

For discus and most other south americans a KH of 0-2 should be quite allright.

You may be confusing GH and KH. GH is related to magnesium og calcium salts (chlorides and sulfates). These have very little to do with salt (NaCl - sodium chloride), but they are still present only in very small concentrations in the soft waters of south america and asia.

KH is related to carbonates only, such as hydrogenbicarbonate (baking soda). These are also salts in a way, but we usually only refer to them as carbonates. The most important effect it has in a fishtank is how it buffers acidic ions, and thus influence the pH value of the water (alcalinity/acidity).

If the pH in your malawi tank is also 5, it may explain why they are not breeding.

[salman]

Yes it is 5, But my tap water is 8! I have no idea how the pH is going down to 5. In all my tanks, the pH is 5. I have no idea what is causing the pH to drop from 8 to 5. I thought the driftwood in my discus tank was messing with the pH. But, I tested all my other tanks:

5 is the lowest number i can test for in my test kit so i am just assuming it is 5. But i think its even lower.

Discus: 5
African Cichlids : 5
Goldfish : 5
Tetra : 5
Molly: 6.5
Molly Fry: 9
and a hospital i cycled 3 days ago
Hospital: 8


This is really weird! Why do they have different pH's when i use the same water for everything? Will adding salt lower or higher the pH? I need some help please.

How is the pH at 5 when the pH comming out of my tap water at 8?
Why do the tanks have different pH's?
What can i do to higher and lower the pH? I tried looking for pH buffer in some of the fish stores i go to, but they didnt have it.
How can i keep my pH stable? Because if i add tap water, it will raise the pH a little and then eventually lower. I can't lower the pH before putting in the tank because a pH of 5 is low.

[dev]

There is a large number of things that can affect the pH in your tank, since your water has such a low KH it does not take much to alter it.

Like I said earlier, hydrogenbicarbonate will increase your KH and buffer your alcalinity. This is the main ingrediant in common baking soda, I'm sure you can find some where you get your groceries.

Add a few teaspoons of baking soda to a bucket of water. Then add a little of this water to your tank, not too much at a time, until you reach the desired pH level. The pH must be adjusted slowly as to not shock your fish.

Soon you will figure out exactly how much baking soda must be added to your tap water to keep the pH stable after water changes.

[salman]

I just add baking soda? How much baking soda? And how high should i get the KH? and how frequent to i have to add baking soda?

[salman]

I found baking powder in my house. Will that work? But the ingridents are phosphate E450a, Cornflour, Sodium Biocarbonate E500

Will this work too?

[dev]

I just add baking soda? How much baking soda? And how high should i get the KH? and how frequent to i have to add baking soda?

You should add baking soda until you reach the pH you want for that tank. You should then measure the KH, so you know what KH level gives the correct pH for that tank.

You then need to add baking soda only when you do water changes. 1 gram of baking soda will increase the KH of 50 liters of water by 1 german degree.

So if you find that a KH of 10 gives the pH of 8 you want for your malawi tank, your tap water has a KH of 0 and you change 50 liters of water; you need to add another 10 grams of baking soda.

If you find that a KH of 4 gives the pH of 7 that you want for your community tank, you will want to add 2 grams when you change 25 liters of water.

One teaspoon is about 3 grams, though this is not a very accurate measurement since teaspoons tend to come in different sizes.

Baking soda (eg. hydrogenbicarbonate) will not increase the pH beyond 8.3

Instead of using baking soda you can buy larger quantities of hydrogenbicarbonate (aka sodiumcarbonate or sodiumbicarbonate) at a pharmacy or chemist, saving you some money.

[salman]

You should add baking soda until you reach the pH you want for that tank. You should then measure the KH, so you know what KH level gives the correct pH for that tank.

You then need to add baking soda only when you do water changes. 1 gram of baking soda will increase the KH of 50 liters of water by 1 german degree.

So if you find that a KH of 10 gives the pH of 8 you want for your malawi tank, your tap water has a KH of 0 and you change 50 liters of water; you need to add another 10 grams of baking soda.

If you find that a KH of 4 gives the pH of 7 that you want for your community tank, you will want to add 2 grams when you change 25 liters of water.

One teaspoon is about 3 grams, though this is not a very accurate measurement since teaspoons tend to come in different sizes.

Baking soda (eg. hydrogenbicarbonate) will not increase the pH beyond 8.3

Instead of using baking soda you can buy larger quantities of hydrogenbicarbonate at a pharmacy or chemist, saving you some money.

You have no idea how much you have helped me! I have been worried and confused for the last week! I will run to the store ASAP and update you! Thanks again! One more question, When i add the baking soda, will the KH increase immediately or will i have to wait like a day?
Thanks again!

[dev]

I found baking powder in my house. Will that work? But the ingridents are phosphate E450a, Cornflour, Sodium Biocarbonate E500

Will this work too?

Yes, that should work, but beware of the phosphate. It hopefully contains only a very small amount of that. If you have a phosphate test I would check the level afterwards, just to be on the safe side. You may even want to see if you can get some baking soda without any phosphate (my baking soda does not).

Sodium Bicarbonate is an old name for Hydrogen Bicarbonate.

The KH (and pH) will increase as soon as the carbonate is dissolved, that is almost immediately. Remember, any adjustment to the KH/pH in the tank must be done slowly. Something like 0.5 or 1 german degree at a time should be ok. Then you need to give your fish some time to adjust before you repeat the procedure.

[salman]

Yes, that should work, but beware of the phosphate. It hopefully contains only a very small amount of that. If you have a phosphate test I would check the level afterwards, just to be on the safe side.

Sodium Bicarbonate is an old name for Hydrogen Bicarbonate.

The KH (and pH) will increase as soon as the carbonate is dissolved, that is almost immediately. Remember, any adjustment to the KH/pH in the tank must be done slowly. Something like 1 german degree at a time should be ok. Then you need to give your fish some time to adjust before you repeat the procedure.

I dont have a phosphate test. Should untill tomorrow when i buy the baking soda or should i use the baking powder? Will the phosphate hurt the fish?

[dev]

I dont have a phosphate test. Should untill tomorrow when i buy the baking soda or should i use the baking powder? Will the phosphate hurt the fish?

It won't hurt the fish unless you get very high concentrations, but it could impact on the biological balance in the tank. Among other things blue-green algea (cyanobacteria) is very fond of phosphates. You will normally want to have less than 1 ppm phosphates.

Does it say anything on the package hos much is carbonate and how much is phospate?

If it doesnt, I think I would wait until you can get something with only carbonates, just to be on the safe side. After all, your fish has been in you water for some time, one more day shouldnt make much difference.

Also, I posted the following generic listing of KH levels for different kinds of tanks in a different thread. You should still check the pH requirement of each species, and you still need to measure the pH, but it will give you a general idea:

These general reccomendations are often given, but again they relate to the pH requirement of the fish. Having a KH within these ranges will give a pH in the required range for most water. All are in german degrees.

South-American: 0-2
Asian: 1-4
Community: 4-8
Malawi: 10-12
Tanganyika:10-14

[salman]

It won't hurt the fish unless you get very high concentrations, but it could impact on the biological balance in the tank. Among other things blue-green algea (cyanobacteria) is very fond of phosphates. You will normally want to have less than 1 ppm phosphates.

Does it say anything on the package hos much is carbonate and how much is phospate?

If it doesnt, I think I would wait until you can get something with only carbonates, just to be on the safe side. After all, your fish has been in you water for some time, one more day shouldnt make much difference.

Also, I posted the following generic listing of KH levels for different kinds of tanks in a different thread. You should still check the pH requirement of each species, and you still need to measure the pH, but it will give you a general idea:

These general reccomendations are often given, but again they relate to the pH requirement of the fish. Having a KH within these ranges will give a pH in the required range for most water. All are in german degrees.

South-American: 0-2
Asian: 1-4
Community: 4-8
Malawi: 10-12
Tanganyika:10-14


Wow Malawi's need a high pH. But they seem to do very good with 5 pH But im going to raise the pH so they can start breeding:) Or i can buy new malawi's and put them in a tank thats empty since i dont want to mess with anything because the malawi's are in a community tank with alot of other fish.