TheNooBie Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 can someone help me determine my results? i am kinda iffy on my results... i am using the API test kits. i am not sure if this kit is accurate but it was given to me so i just used it. any second opinions would be appreciated this is after a week and a half in a 28g jbj HQI. Salinity - 1.027 which is a little high... water from LFS Ammonia - 0 Nitrite - 0 Nitrate - 10 pH - looks like 7.8 from the results am i doing ok??this is my first tank!! any comments would be appreciated! Link to comment
doctaq Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 seems like your tank is done cycling your ph seems kinda low did you take this sample at night by any chance? Link to comment
TheNooBie Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 well i took it in my kitchen. im not sure what the ph is.. looking from the color chart it is kinda hard to tell. what color would u think the ph tube is? it looks like its around 7.8. sorry for the picture being side ways... i took it using an iphone quality sucks. here is another picture thanks for your quick reply doctaq Link to comment
StevieT Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 Hold the PH tube over the color card. See what color disappears through the liquid. Water changes and more flow will fix that right up Link to comment
TheNooBie Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 thanks StevieT i will have to try that next time. ill try to do another ph test tomorrow and see how that turns out. if that looks good would u recommend me doing a water change the end of the week and let it go for another week and check it again? and if that is a GO i hope i can hopefully corals soon!! thanks for the help! Link to comment
StevieT Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 sounds like a plan. PH fluctuates especially during a light cycle so test after the lights have been on for a while. During a cycle most limit the light cycle so that may be it as well. Do the water change, let is sit a week and see where you are at. The nitrates should be reduced afterwards. Otherwise looks fine to me from the interweb. Link to comment
justinT Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 I have the same test kits, and some tests are hard to read. I find that sometimes if I hold the tube against the card it matches one closest, other times if I hold it just off of the card it matches best. I have pH paper from work I can confirm it with. You COULD mix up a reef buffer and check the pH of that, then compare that color to your tank. (dilute solution with some tank water outside of tank). I notice the ammmonia and nitrate are probably hardest to read- I hold the nitrate away, and ammonia right up to the card. I dont remember what I do for pH though. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted October 8, 2009 Share Posted October 8, 2009 The pH looks okay to me. Did you test the water when the lights were off? Link to comment
TheNooBie Posted October 8, 2009 Author Share Posted October 8, 2009 thanks for all the replies its a big help! Stevie T - sounds good! JustinT - yeah the colors are really hard to tell. i wish there were better one i can use. lakshwadeep - well the lights were on for maybe 15 minutes before i tested. i am having the diatom bloom at the moment so i shorten the light hours to a couple hrs. the lights were off for a couple hours i just turned it on prior to the test. Link to comment
lakshwadeep Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 pH lowers when the lights are off (or have been off for a long time and recently turned on, in your case) because of the lack of photosynthesis. In any case, pH of 7.8 is still within the normal range, anything below that would be considered low pH. Link to comment
Biotoper Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 It looks like 8.2 pH to me. But some daily swing is acceptable, so I wouldn't worry about it. I never test for pH. Link to comment
TheNooBie Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 thanks for all the replies! i guess i am doing something right in this hobby!! haha will make a thread and post pics up soon! Link to comment
NoChikenStrips Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 well i took it in my kitchen. im not sure what the ph is.. looking from the color chart it is kinda hard to tell. what color would u think the ph tube is? it looks like its around 7.8. sorry for the picture being side ways... i took it using an iphone quality sucks. here is another picture thanks for your quick reply doctaq ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ funny? thats what my test results look like after 4 days...weird? does that mean my tank is done cycling? I'm going to play it safe and wait another week. Link to comment
TheNooBie Posted October 9, 2009 Author Share Posted October 9, 2009 Nochickenstrips - i am not sure myself hahaha possibly? i am going to do a water change tomorrow and then wait another week test water again and go from there! Link to comment
JohnOTS Posted October 9, 2009 Share Posted October 9, 2009 I got so tired of trying to determine what the PH was reading using those kits, so I saved and purchased a PH pen meter (under $100). Now I know exactly (+/- 0.5) what my PH is, worth the money. Link to comment
TheNooBie Posted October 12, 2009 Author Share Posted October 12, 2009 johnots - thats something i should look into. where would i be able to find that ? Link to comment
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