Interpreting my results and what to do

**shanecb** · 10-25-2010, 01:14 AM

Hi everyone. I tested my water today (no fish in it yet) after not having tested it for about a month. My previous testing kit got ruined, and I just now got a new one. In the meantime I'd been adding a little bit of ammonia about every two days to try to keep things from stalling out. Here are my results from today:

pH: 6
Ammonia: 8ppm (!)
Nitrite: between 0 and 0.25ppm
Nitrate: somewhere between 80 and 160ppm

How should I interpret these results, and what can I do to get things into the normal ranges? I haven't added any ammonia for three or four days, so that wouldn't explain the big spike.

Advice?

**rich311k** · 10-25-2010, 01:20 AM

I would do a water change, that is way too much ammonia. For all you know it could be 20 as most kits only go to 8. Do a 75% water change and then see what your readings are.

**shanecb** · 10-25-2010, 01:25 AM

Thanks for the reply. After the water change, should I test the water immediately afterward, or add a little ammonia for a few days to see if it would go down?

**rich311k** · 10-25-2010, 01:32 AM

Test after an hour and see where you are before adding anything. Then only add enough ammoina to go to 2 ppm.

**kurly** · 10-25-2010, 01:32 AM

I would test the water first before adding more ammonia.

**shanecb** · 10-25-2010, 01:36 AM

Thanks for the quick feedback! Just did the water change, and will post up results in about an hour to see where things stand.

**shanecb** · 10-25-2010, 03:33 AM

Did about a 75% water change and retested.

pH: 7.4
Ammonia: 8ppm still
Nitrite: 0ppm
Nitrate: 40ppm

Still way too much ammonia. I'm just going to do another water change soon I guess. I ran out of water conditioner, though, so I'll need to buy some more first.

**SwordTaleLair** · 10-25-2010, 03:37 AM

I would go all the way and take all the water out and restart. Test your tap water too and see what it has as a baseline.

Also, is this a new tank or an old one?