When to test Aquarium water?

[love-my-fish]

hello everyone, Another newbie question for everyone. I know i'm going to get some slaps for this one but i'll take em to learn. I inherited a test kit for my aquarium and i have yet to use it... 8 months no test... I know i should be shot and not allowed to have fish http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/images/smilies/eek.gif I do water changes now though and i know how to do them correctly thanks to the good folks on here.... :-)

K, seriously: When should you actually do the water tests on aquarium water?
1. a few hours after feeding? Before? What if you feed 2 or 3 times a day?
2. Shortly after a water change? how long ?
3. Before a water change and then after?
tks all for the help......
sheldon with 2 jack dempseys, 2 albino plec's and 75 gallons

[Melody]

We don't slap around here. We all started out exactly where you are, no worries.

If you're having issues, testing is the first step towards resolution. Doing it before the waterchange will let you know if it's the environment that's off. You can also get permanent gadgets that stay in the tank, such as 'ammonia alert'. They're not precise, but they'll give you a heads up that something is wrong.

[love-my-fish]

tks melody... truly appreciated on the response.. .I will do some research on that,,,
sheldon

[bae3]

75 gallons may seem like a large tank, but you've got a very large fish in there, and another that will soon be almost as large. From your other posts, you are feeding them heavily on high protein foods. This means a high level of nitrogenous and other waste.

I think you should test to determine whether your water change schedule is adequate to keep the level of nitrate low, and you should have enough filtration to keep ammonia and nitrite at zero. Test before water changes, so you know how bad you are letting it get. If it's high, you'll have to do larger and/or more frequent water changes. Clean your filter frequently. Crud in the filter is still in the tank's water, even if you don't see it as easily as when it's in the tank, and a filter loses effectiveness as it slowly clogs. Your female is growing, so the bioload will continue to rise, so keep testing periodically even after you come up with an adequate water change schedule.

You might consider feeding more lightly and with lower protein foods. JDs are omnivores and a lot of protein isn't necessary or desirable. It just gets used for the calories and releases more ammonia, as well as putting a strain on the kidneys.

You might also consider adding some floating plants, like hornwort, which has a large surface area for bacteria and will itself suck up a lot of nitrogen and phosphate as it grows. From your photos, you've got plenty of light for it, and some cover from floating plants reduces stress in the fish, who don't realise that despite being stuck in open shallow water, they need have no fear of being grabbed by an osprey! ;-)

Keep a careful eye on your fish and if you notice any signs of skin irritation, heavy or fast breathing, sluggishness or any unusual behaviour, immediately test the water, because you've got a balancing act going with these large fish and their water quality.

[hp10BII]

Over time, you get to know your tank. If the water smells "clean" and your fish eat and are swimming around normally, I seldom do much testing.

Initially with a new setup, you may want to test KH to see how stable your pH may be. If your pH hardly moves, that's good - stability is the key. Get to know pH of your water out of the tap and after it's aged overnight gives you a baseline of your local water. No need to test pH after that unless you suspect something is really off.

I hardly test for ammonia or nitrites - only with a new tank if I'm cycling the filters, bunch of new fish or if I think the filter media has been damaged.

Testing for nitrates isn't a bad idea too, it gives you an idea whether you need to step up on the amount/frequency of water changes. Once you've got the readings that you like, just stay at that amount/frequency of water changes and all should be good.

If you have or want a new setup where the water that you want to use is completely different from your other setups or out of the tap, you test to see how much additives you may need to add to your water to achieve a certain hardness level. For example, our local water is really soft, but to keep my African Rift lake cichlids happy, I dose a combination of epsom salts and marine salt to harden the water. You would use a GH test for that. Once you determined your range, you can figure how much additives to top off at each water change.

[Melody]

Good points indeed. You do get to a level where you can tell if you need to do a waterchange or the fish don't look quite right. I rarely test anymore, but I do like the Ammonia Alert gadgets for my own piece of mind, especially in my smaller tanks.

It seems like a lot to take in at first but we're here to help you along the way. The level of patience and concern in this community always makes me proud to be a part of it. They've certainly been more than patient with me when I tackle a new aspect of the hobby. The learning never ends, but that's the best part... second only to the people you meet. :Smile:

[GaryofMontreal]

I only test water if I want to understand something working or not working on breeding a fish. A regular community or maintenance tank never gets tested. I do regularly scheduled water changes and don't miss. Plus I try to keep stocking as low as possible.
If you overcrowd, then testing would be essential, but in a well filtered tank with regular water changes and a stable municipal water source, I think testing is a matter of curiosity. If it's fun, do it. If not, keep changing water.

[love-my-fish]

75 gallons may seem like a large tank, but you've got a very large fish in there, and another that will soon be almost as large. From your other posts, you are feeding them heavily on high protein foods. This means a high level of nitrogenous and other waste.

I think you should test to determine whether your water change schedule is adequate to keep the level of nitrate low, and you should have enough filtration to keep ammonia and nitrite at zero. Test before water changes, so you know how bad you are letting it get. If it's high, you'll have to do larger and/or more frequent water changes. Clean your filter frequently. Crud in the filter is still in the tank's water, even if you don't see it as easily as when it's in the tank, and a filter loses effectiveness as it slowly clogs. Your female is growing, so the bioload will continue to rise, so keep testing periodically even after you come up with an adequate water change schedule.

You might consider feeding more lightly and with lower protein foods. JDs are omnivores and a lot of protein isn't necessary or desirable. It just gets used for the calories and releases more ammonia, as well as putting a strain on the kidneys.

You might also consider adding some floating plants, like hornwort, which has a large surface area for bacteria and will itself suck up a lot of nitrogen and phosphate as it grows. From your photos, you've got plenty of light for it, and some cover from floating plants reduces stress in the fish, who don't realise that despite being stuck in open shallow water, they need have no fear of being grabbed by an osprey! ;-)

Keep a careful eye on your fish and if you notice any signs of skin irritation, heavy or fast breathing, sluggishness or any unusual behaviour, immediately test the water, because you've got a balancing act going with these large fish and their water quality.
Thanks for the comments in here as well BAE,, Great answers in the other forum as well..... Will keep you posted on what happens over the next few days for sure.
Cheers!!!!!

[love-my-fish]

It seems like a lot to take in at first but we're here to help you along the way. The level of patience and concern in this community always makes me proud to be a part of it. . :Smile:
Thanks once again melody,,, your correct, great people in here for sure and your a great help yourself with all your responses... How do you get soo much time.. :-)


If you overcrowd, then testing would be essential, but in a well filtered tank with regular water changes and a stable municipal water source, I think testing is a matter of curiosity. If it's fun, do it. If not, keep changing water.
Thanks Gary,,,,, appreciate your comments as well and right in line with the general group... cheers!!!
sheldon

[CACAdmin]

With tanks that have been up for a long time, I don't test unless I think something is wrong. New tanks, I test until I'm sure they are stable.

Not much I can add except a couple of things being new at this you might not be aware of:


Check the expiry date on that test kit you inherited. Results may be off if it has expired.
When cleaning filters make sure you rinse out media in water from the tank or dechlorinated water or you will kill off beneficial bacteria in the filter.

[Melody]

Thanks once again melody,,, your correct, great people in here for sure and your a great help yourself with all your responses... How do you get soo much time.. :-)


I don't watch TV and I don't sleep...LOL...I work an average 12 hour day and take breaks talking about fish. Some might call me a workaholic, but I have fun with it so surely I must not be :wink: . Life is good. ::D:

[fishclubgirl]

I know I'll be jumped on for this but I have never tested my water. In the last year, I did check PH though, a first for me. Thermometers are also rarely used too as I have the "thermo" finger. My visits to pet store tend to be inexpensive!!

[Melody]

Why would you be jumped on it? If you have the experience to figure things out without a test, naturally you wouldn't use it. Several people have already said the same thing. For people who are new to the hobby, tests will help guide them.

[OldMan]

I'm with you FishClubGirl. I don't recall the last time I tested an established tank. I do test a cloned tank right before introducing the first stock into it, but hardly consider that as routine testing.

[bae3]

I thought people might like an update on this since we've been helping the original poster out on GTAaquaria.

He has a 9" and a 4" Jack Dempsey in a 75g tank. He'd been changing 20-25% of the water weekly, and not cleaning his filters. He'd also been feeding them a lot of krill and silversides daily, as well as good-quality pellets. When he tested his water, the nitrates were 180ppm+ (as high as the kit goes, I think). His fish were showing discomfort, scraping themselves on the gravel, and had stopped eating.

We suggested he do 50% water changes daily for at least a week, then do a 50% water change every time the nitrates get up to 40ppm or sooner, to figure out a good water change regime. Also to rinse his filters frequently, and put a sponge filter on the intake of his canister filter to keep the canister from clogging as rapidly. Also to keep the krill and silversides as occasional treats and only feed as much of the pellet food he's using (Hikari) as the fish will eat in 5 minutes, no more than twice a day. I suggested he toss in a bunch of hornwort, since his tank appears to be brightly lit.

He's followed this advice, and says the nitrates are now 'under control'.

This is a case of a well-meaning new aquarist who had taken on a more difficult task than he realized in keeping large fish that will eat all they can get. JDs, like many cichlids, are intelligent (for fish) and can easily train their keeper to feed them too much on demand. In his case, frequent testing is important until he gets a handle on what he needs to do to keep up good water quality.

I've been keeping fish for many years, my tanks are full of plants and usually not heavily stocked except when I'm raising fry, and I do water changes whether they're needed or not, so I seldom if ever test. When I do test, it's mostly out of curiosity. But for beginners, who don't have a feel for these things, and may be making some awful mistakes without realizing it, testing may well be the way to avoid disaster and learn how to keep fish more intuitively (or expertly).

Btw, I've noticed that I usually sniff the air above the tank when I feed. If it doesn't have that 'green', 'live' smell, I look for something wrong, like a dead fish somewhere. There's no way you can describe this 'test' to someone who doesn't have plenty of experience -- I'm sure all or most of you know exactly what I mean by that healthy smell, and you know it by experience. I also look at the color of the waste water I siphon into a bucket. If it's more than slightly yellow, I know that tank, usually a fry tank, needs more frequent changes.

[love-my-fish]

Hello and thank-you to everyone... And especially BAE.. thank-you for giving everyone the details..... My fish are doing great now.... Well almost.. the little JD is eating something.. not sure what but she is not eating the small cichlid pellets at the top of the tank but she is maybe eating small pieces that fall to the ground... large male is hungrier then ever but they are only getting enough grub in 5 minutes that they can eat... Strictly feeding them cichlid gold only for awhile and maybe later on they might get a treat once a week like krill or something.......
I now have all the help and knowledge from everyone and it's worked... WOW did i learn a lot... happy camper here now..... I have the nitrates under control and i'm sure the plants helped with that as well...... THE Big thing that worked for me was the SEACHEM - metroplex..... treating for parasites... and beleive me... this really worked.... I noticed that the big male was coming back to life within an hour after i treated them.... going to do a 3rd treatment to make sure and then another big water change and put my carbon back in.. all is good....
Merry xmas and a happy new year to all...
cheers!!!
sheldon

[CACAdmin]

Glad to hear things have turned around for you Sheldon and the fish are improving.:Smile:

[Melody]

I'm glad to hear that things have improved. It's a heavy load and it will be a lot of work until you are able to upsize, but once we know what we're dealing with it makes things so much easier.

If there's one thing to keep in mind it's that a big waterchange won't hurt, regardless of what the issue at hand is or whether we know what the problem is exactly. The same goes for testing - you'll know when you're ready to test less or not at all. With a system that is so precariously balanced as the one you're dealing with, I agree that testing is a good idea. You may want to check out the 'Ammonia Alert' product too. I think they're around $7, which is well worth it when you're worried.

[love-my-fish]

I'm glad to hear that things have improved. It's a heavy load and it will be a lot of work until you are able to upsize, but once we know what we're dealing with it makes things so much easier.

If there's one thing to keep in mind it's that a big waterchange won't hurt, regardless of what the issue at hand i

CACadmin,, yes it is great that it's finally under control.......

Melody,,, yes hopefully someday a bigger tank with a sump will be nice for sure... at least now i'm tackling it with the knowledge that i have learned from all the forums.....
cheers and thanks everyone....
sheldon