# What’s everyone’s thoughts on aquarium testing kits (Newbie)



## Nathanh2150 (24 Jul 2021)

Hi all
I’m looking on upping the game with water testing kits as I’m currently using the Tetra test strips.

I have been looking at the API FreshWater Master Test Kit but seeing what would be ideal for a planted aquarium 

what would be the ideal testing kit for me as I’m a newbie to anything new that the testing strips don’t do so will be needing some advice.

any website or links to good testing kits would be amazing as I can do a bit of research 🧐


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## erwin123 (24 Jul 2021)

I am new here to and I have learnt from UKAPS that test kits could do more harm then good if you use them to achieve some mythical target number in your water parameters.

However, I would like to share my experience. I bought a Sera NO3 test kit for the first time this year (I picked Sera after googling/youtubing "which No3 test is best...." ). My tank with 10-year old substrate and been surviving with a few crypts and I wanted to restart the tank.

I got an angry red colour result for my NO3 test. I considered that to be information that I needed to act on, even if I did not know the exact level of NO3, especially if one plans to keep shrimp in the tank? In other words, those with shrimps should try to avoid "red" results for NO3 and aim for "yellow" or "orange" results?  

In addition, if I were doing a DIY fert route, I would view such a result as warning me that maybe I mixed up or miscalculated my dosing, for example?  Similarly, if I get a test result that is the same colour as my tap water result (which has 0 nitrates), then maybe it would tell me that I made a mistake and had been only dosing trace rather than complete ferts?

Just sharing the colours of my Sera NO3 test results (i say "colours" and avoid saying ppm , mg/L as that would probably not be accurate):


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## foxfish (24 Jul 2021)

Hi Nathan, I think that would depend on what you want to test for and why?
Many planted tank carers dont test at all and some restrict their testing to just measuring the PH.
Of course lots of folk consider testing the water as part of the hobby and enjoy the experience but it is very easy to be mislead by false or misleading results!


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## ceg4048 (24 Jul 2021)

Nathanh2150 said:


> Hi all
> I’m looking on upping the game with water testing kits as I’m currently using the Tetra test strips.
> 
> I have been looking at the API FreshWater Master Test Kit but seeing what would be ideal for a planted aquarium
> ...


Hello,
        There are no test kits that are in any way "ideal" for a planted aquarium. The problem with test kits are not merely because they are inaccurate and inconsistent, but that test kits and testing for parameters that very few understand is part of a wider conspiracy by vendors to extract money by preying on our fears.

So take for example the post above stating:


erwin123 said:


> I needed to act on, even if I did not know the exact level of NO3, especially if one plans to keep shrimp in the tank? In other words, those with shrimps should try to avoid "red" results for NO3 and aim for "yellow" or "orange" results?


Well firstly, who says that a certain color should be avoided? On what basis do we presume that a certain NO3 level is toxic to our invertebrates? What are the physical signs of NO3 toxicity in fish and invertebrates? Has the mechanism of this toxicity been explained? Do hobbyists realize that NO3 derived from the nitrogen cycle in the tank is the end product of a toxic cycle that begins with ammonia and nitrite? Are they aware that this is completely different than directly adding inorganic NO3 to the tank?

No one explains or elucidates these issues. Doctrines and dogmatic limits are promulgated as if written on stone tablets.
No one questions or actually tests these limits, so the test kit becomes, in effect, a kind of virtual police, or some kind of bot.
Furthermore, if these bogus test results show red or [insert danger color here] then off to the LFS we go to buy some product to ameliorate the condition in the tank. It's almost like the movie Groundhog Day. the cycle is repeated infinitely. 

Test kits are part and parcel of a massive disinformation campaign, first to mesmerize the public with lore of chemical boogiemen which then drives the unsuspecting like flies into the spiders web of more deceit.

The ironic thing is that there is actual value in some test kits, but these kits measure innocuous parameters such as pH, GH and alkalinity. As usual however, the value of these  parameter are twisted and perverted so the hobbyist is told to "keep you parameters stable" so off to the LFS we go to buy some product destined to maintain the parameter. Does anyone even know what pH is? Do we know the purpose of alkalinity or GH? Are people aware that a so-called KH test kit is incapable of measuring KH and actually measures alkalinity instead? Does the average test kit lover even know the difference between KH and alkalinity?

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, our heroes don't own any nutrient test kits (or have binned them) and their tanks are fine. Animals are healthy and so are the plants. pH/KH/GH test kits are used sparingly to obtain basic information and that's all. Basic plant and animal husbandry are are performed, with large and frequent water changes as the pillar of the technique and no one worries too much if these values vary naturally.

So really, test kits have some uses but not in the hands of beginners ironically. Without understanding the fundamentals of water chemistry there is little point in chasing these numbers or colors.

Cheers,


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## dw1305 (24 Jul 2021)

Hi all,


Nathanh2150 said:


> what would be the ideal testing kit for me as I’m a newbie to anything new that the testing strips don’t do so will be needing some advice.


My advice would be to buy a <"conductivity meter">.


ceg4048 said:


> So really, test kits have some uses but not in the hands of beginners ironically. Without understanding the fundamentals of water chemistry there is little point in chasing these numbers or colors.


I agree with the others, water testing is nothing <"like as straightforward"> as much of the advice would have you believe. 

cheers Darrel


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## PARAGUAY (24 Jul 2021)

I look on test kits as one of several things we can do to work "things out" eg simple test for ammonia nitrite. Accepting that other factors can alter accuracy.


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## Nathanh2150 (24 Jul 2021)

_Hi All,
Thankyou for all your comments on this post I do appreciate it.
As I have always used testing strips I find myself in a different situation with my newer tank as before I had a fluval flex which was heavenly planted with monte carlo the growth was amazing. I use to use co2 in that tanks and do weekly water changes didn't do any ferts. I decided as I had a good space in my living room to invest in a aquascaper 900 open top tank done a lot of research into equipment so decided to go for a biomaster thermo 900 in the external filter i added carbon also ammonia remover like stone substance kept all sponges in the filter apart from one blue sponge to house the carbon and ammonia remover. I also added into the bottom tray some Aquario Neo filter media removing another blue sponge. I run a 5kg co2 bottle with a 2 reg co2 art regulator bubble count 10 per minute the co2 checker is lime throughout the day untill co2 is turned off though a plug timer which comes on at 11.30-8.30pm. I also run my co2 though a co2art inline diffuser. The lighting on the tank is a twinstar 900s which also is set at 50% intendancy comes on at 3pm-9pm everyday. The temperature of my aquarium is 25'c. The aquascapper 900 is heavily planted as was advised I needed more plants which i took note and brought a huge Amount. I have been doing daily ferts of 20ml before co2 come on also feeding the fish once every other day so the day i dont feed they are able to go around the tank to get any left over food or algae. I do weekly water changes of 50% which falls on a Sunday I also only clean out on the exturnel fillter the inflow sponges and leave the filter media sponges doing those monthly leaving the inflow sponges alone to keep bacteria going (hope that makes sense hehe  )
Wile doing water changes I add  Fluval Cycle Biological aquarium supplement 35ml added into the tank and Fluval Aquaplus tap water conditioner 35ml added into the tank.

( I know I have gone off track on why I ideally would like to look into new water testing kits but I wanted to add as much information possible to help out with my post)

I have always struggled with black beard algae also hair algae also green slim which I have a chemical to treat for that. but regarding the hair algae and the black beard algae I have done a lot of research regarding this and by the looks of things it will pass as its down to new tank symptom but with every water change I scrub to get as much as I can out of the tank.

Regarding my testing kit enquiry I was looking to see if there was another brand that I could use to help me further just in case I'm missing anything that the testing strips do not show. 

I have currently noticed that my hair grass is starting to though out not looking as vibrant as it did so didnt know if there was somthing in the water affecting it. 

I am more then happy to add photos if thats needed.   _


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## Kevin Eades (24 Jul 2021)

I only ever test my tank to check the cycle when setting up. Everything else is done under the assumption that im weekly water changing and consistant ferts and lights etc the balance will remain. Keep look out for dead fish or pollutants such as waste food. Keep an eye on fish behaviour. I may test if I think i have an ammonia spike (only once I can remember for last few years) just to clarify my other observations. In terms of plant health I'm going to ask how it's going with upping the ferts? Have you seen better plant growth? I would say switch to EI dosing my tanks have been on it for 2 months and have taken off compared to a ton of tropica ferts.  I hope you find the balance and get the tank where you want it. I'm now getting to have to optimise my flow more as the plants are blocking it and causing bba in some dead spots ha


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## Kevin Eades (24 Jul 2021)

Also once you stop testing the hobby becomes much more relaxing. With a tank your size it should be pretty easy to keep it stable with good maintenance program.


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## MichaelJ (24 Jul 2021)

I think the most important “test kit” is our eyes and common sense. If plants and fish are thriving we know we are on the right track, if not we have to investigate and correct. If I would see my fish showing signs of illness my first reaction would be to test for ammonia and nitrite. Just as I would take my temperature if I felt I had a fever...and wont if I feel fine... fairly straightforward.

NO3 and PO4 - those are fertilizers.. I don't test for NO3 and PO4 on a regular basis. I know I pummel my tanks with NPK as part of my dosing so why even bother? And, in my experience, there is absolutely nothing that suggest that high levels of NO3 (or PO4) is a problem for livestock (including shrimps or snails). I did test recently just to see as I was changing my NPK dosing to DIY - and here are the result:




You can call it off-the-chart-blue and rage-red   joking aside, my PO4 is probably around 30-40 ppm and my NO3 around 30 ppm (and still "Shrimp safe")... fairly consistent with my dosing. I've had these levels for a long time and livestock and plants seems fine with this.  That said, I wont go higher than this - no need to.

GH (which is predominantly made up of Calcium and Magnesium): I try to keep a balance between the fishes natural habitats and the need of the plants and inverts (shrimps need Ca). So I am aiming for 5.5 GH which should provide plenty of Ca:Mg for plants as well. I may be wasting my time targeting a low GH, but as long as I don’t inflict any Ca:Mg deficiencies, it should be fine. My fish (mostly tetras) seems to be happy in the moderately soft water. And since I know what amount of Ca and Mg I am putting into my WC water I really have no reason to test this either, but still do so occasionally.

KH: I basically just rely on the KH that I get from my Tap/RO mix. After WC it usually sits around 2 KH. I really don’t know what the significance of KH is in the planted aquarium (or otherwise...), except that it act as a buffer against pH spikes - but why would I ever have that as long as I do my weekly WC and general maintenance? - another thing I have been taught not to worry about    Also, the CO2-injection crowd are intentionally inducing big pH swings every day when they switch on their CO2 - another clue to me that I shouldn’t worry. I essentially stopped testing KH.

pH (combined with KH) used to be the culprit for all my troubles. I used to be caught up in aiming at a specific pH level…driven by a barrage of misconceptions…a total waste of time and money on acid and alkaline buffers that was turning my tanks into a soup of abrasive chemicals and almost ruined my tanks quite frankly. My pH is currently anywhere from 6.6 to 7.4…. Fish or plants do not seem to care… and as long as they don’t, I shouldn’t either so I rarely test pH.

TDS: If I had to choose only one measurement device it would be a good quality TDS meter. I measure TDS before and after WC, to make sure everything is good. For instance, an unanticipated rise in TDS is a good indication that my maintenance is insufficient. (happened in the past). I know what I am putting into the tanks by adding up all the ppm’s from NPK, trace and remineralization, and my TDS comes out fairly close to that number.


@Nathanh2150,
I've only used a couple of different brands of Kits (JBL and API). The liquid API kits seems fine to have in the arsenal to give you that occasional ballpark bearing,  and Hanna Instruments TDS meters seems fairly good and consistent in my experience.

Cheers,
Michael


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## akwarium (24 Jul 2021)

I think a blood pressure meter is very handy when it comes to water tests, For al the panic attacks caused by weird (and false) test results.


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## Nathanh2150 (24 Jul 2021)

I tottaly understand where your all coming from with the testing kits but I feel like I may need one as the only issue I’m facing at the moment is the algae in the aquarium like when its been cleaned and the tank looks spot on 👌🏼 But throughout the next few days it goes back to algae again the fish are doing well the plants are doing well with new growth but the hair grass is now starting to struggle and I really dont want to loose it as it cost me a fair amount in tropica tubs I have attached some photos of what i mean I hope someone is able to help me as I feel like im hitting a brick wall where I cannot see over this issue ☹️


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## MichaelJ (24 Jul 2021)

Nathanh2150 said:


> I tottaly understand where your all coming from with the testing kits but I feel like I may need one as the only issue I’m facing at the moment is the algae in the aquarium like when its been cleaned and the tank looks spot on 👌🏼 But throughout the next few days it goes back to algae again the fish are doing well the plants are doing well with new growth but the hair grass is now starting to struggle and I really dont want to loose it as it cost me a fair amount in tropica tubs I have attached some photos of what i mean I hope someone is able to help me as I feel like im hitting a brick wall where I cannot see over this issue ☹️


@Nathanh2150 Provided you have ample nutrients (NPK), algae issues are fundamentally a CO2 / light (usually too much of it) / flow issue... I am not a CO2 expert, but I am sure the UKAPS Experts on this thread will chime in to provide some guidance that you can take to the bank... @ceg4048 , @dw1305  take it away!


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## sparkyweasel (24 Jul 2021)

Have you done a pH profile?


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## Andy Pierce (24 Jul 2021)

Nathanh2150 said:


> I tottaly understand where your all coming from with the testing kits but I feel like I may need one as the only issue I’m facing at the moment is the algae in the aquarium like when its been cleaned and the tank looks spot on 👌🏼 But throughout the next few days it goes back to algae again the fish are doing well the plants are doing well with new growth but the hair grass is now starting to struggle and I really dont want to loose it as it cost me a fair amount in tropica tubs I have attached some photos of what i mean I hope someone is able to help me as I feel like im hitting a brick wall where I cannot see over this issue ☹️


I'd wager your algae problem is caused by too much light, rather than anything having to do with any water parameter.  Whatever you're doing for lighting, go for a max 6 hours per day and half of whatever your current max intensity is.  Try that for a couple weeks and if that solves your problem you can start creeping the lighting back up again if you like.  50% water change once per week also keeps things nice.  If plants and animals are healthy and algae is your only problem, then you don't have a water parameter problem.


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

Hi @Andy Pierce
I know this maybe a daft question but I'm gonna be doing my tank today and if I was to lower the light to 25% would that be ok for the plants as they have been use to 50% also if I was also to do a black out on the tank with black bin liners for a week would I need to turn the co2 off during that week and stop any ferts. I would also be looking to add an air stone for the week just to help with oxygen in the water. Also continuing feeding my fish once every other day. What's your thought's on this? also I would do a water change on the Sunday 1st Aug 50%. just dont want to spook my rainbow fish as there the main feature over the plants tbo


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## bazz (25 Jul 2021)

Nathanh2150 said:


> I run a 5kg co2 bottle with a 2 reg co2 art regulator bubble count 10 per minute the co2 checker is lime throughout the day untill co2 is turned off though a plug timer which comes on at 11.30-8.30pm.


Hi,
I have a very similar sized aquarium and my bubble count is roughly 4 bubbles/second. I can't really understand why your drop checker is lime green all day with this injection rate on a 200l aquarium.
Looking at the photos I would hazard a guess your problems are arising from poor CO2 management, fluctuating/insufficient/distribution/flow.
If my tank looked like that I would up the water changes to every 2 days for a couple of weeks, optimize CO2, manual cleaning/removal of algae (cleanliness is paramount) and maybe fractionally lower light intensity, not so low your plants will be unable to flourish. You also do not mention which ferts you are using, could be you are lacking certain elements.
I also do not understand why you have ammonia remover in your filter has your aquarium not matured yet?
Lastly I am pleased to note that you value your fishes wellbeing above everything else.
Cheers!


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## erwin123 (25 Jul 2021)

By the way, since you mention you are already using Tetra test strips, are the strips telling you anything about your water parameters that prompted you to look into test kits?

Just a question of how you are positioning your twinstar light - when I look at the last 2 photos, the front of the pic seems to be well lit while the L. Super Reds and C. Balansae at the back (I guessing the species) seem to be in darkness? Or is the lighting from camera flash rather than the Twinstar..?


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

Morning @bazz
Thanks for the comment on this post,
regarding the ferts I was advised from my local aquatic store that for the size of my tank and for the amount of plants 20ml daily is fine and also with the co2 with the 10 bubble count that was also ideal but if your having no issues with 4 bubble count I could also try that the plants are growing well also growing new growth. The ferts that i am using is  Evolution Aqua Aquascaper Liquid Plant Food. Regarding the co2 drop checker the colour is not always lime green its only lime green when the co2 comes on and that's around half 11am id say it starts to show lime green around 1ish maybe havent really kept an eye on it as I usually don't have the light on until 3pm. I am doing a clean today of my tank so shall be doing a huge clean out again as i did before with brushing away the black beard algae also the hair algae and the green slim which only appears on the glass and some of the Lilly stems. I would say my tank has been fully set up now for around 8 months now.  
I added Ammonia to my external filter as I have always had it in all my aquariums didnt see any issues before with having it in there. The charcoal & ammonia is branded as Fluval.

And to the last quote yes my fish are very important to me on there health and well being


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## Andy Pierce (25 Jul 2021)

Nathanh2150 said:


> Hi @Andy Pierce
> I know this maybe a daft question but I'm gonna be doing my tank today and if I was to lower the light to 25% would that be ok for the plants as they have been use to 50% also if I was also to do a black out on the tank with black bin liners for a week would I need to turn the co2 off during that week and stop any ferts. I would also be looking to add an air stone for the week just to help with oxygen in the water. Also continuing feeding my fish once every other day. What's your thought's on this? also I would do a water change on the Sunday 1st Aug 50%. just dont want to spook my rainbow fish as there the main feature over the plants tbo


I would give it a good clean, a 50% water change, do the adjustment to the lighting and see how that goes for a couple weeks with no other changes.  Otherwise you'll never figure out what's going on.


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

@erwin123 
Thanks for your message I can do a quick water test now before I do any Maintenance to the tank if that helps.
The test strips only tell me about the 
NO3
NO2
GH
KH
PH
CL2 
Also with lighting the photos was only taken with the twinstar light on no phone flash the lighting is more to the back of the aquarium as there is a piece  of aquarium bog wood sticking out of the top of the tank can also take photos to show. The twinstar lighting only has red/blue/white/green led lights

@Andy Pierce Id ideally would love to get this resolved as its starting to become more of a faff than an enjoyment I totally understand that when I come into aqascaping that it wasn't gonna be a slice of cake and there would be hurdles along the way which I'm more then happy to get resolved to take full enjoyment of the aquarium and scape but for the first time doing a fully planted tank and the costs that have gone into it to enjoy the benifits would be a good outcome in the end but I'm just new to this and would appreciate any guidance. Even to have someone pop over to help or redesign my aquarium to make it work would be amazing but i know that's not possible with current times.

In the aquarium I have 
7x rainbowfish
5x pepper cory's
6x Sterbai cory's
1x bulldog pleco
2x endler guppys
1x female fighter ever so friendly
1x blue shrimp
3x Celestial Pearl Danio

@bazz 
Photo attached of the lighting unit on the aquarium


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## PARAGUAY (25 Jul 2021)

Why not arrange to go over to Scaped Nature your in Norwich.Sure they would help as you want to speak in person. I would not change the EA Aquascaper fertiliser. Remember all these lovely aquascapes the owners all have had the problems you have at some stage. What probably makes this hobby is that it is not a piece of cake and getting a end result of nicely planted tank healthly fish etc the reward of the effort will come through.


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## mort (25 Jul 2021)

This thread has basically gone the way of your last one and like in the other I think the problems are still the same. I know it's really frustrating but I don't think any test kit will benefit you at all I'm afraid as it still looks like a combination of high light, poor CO2 distribution and low plant mass. 
Limiting the fishes feeding isn't ideal. If you fed them little and often so that no leftovers polluted the tank then they would still be actively picking around unless you are specifically talking about feeding the plec. None of your other fish apart from perhaps the guppies will really eat much algae.

So I think like advised by others you'd be better served looking at the fundamentals, changing perhaps to a more basic approach and sticking with it for a few months to see what it does. At the moment your algae growth is far stronger than your plant growth which is the issue and if you can turn that tide so the plant growth picks up then you will slowly begin to win the battle.


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## dw1305 (25 Jul 2021)

Hi all, 


PARAGUAY said:


> Why not arrange to go over to Scaped Nature your in Norwich


My suggestion as well.


Nathanh2150 said:


> Id ideally would love to get this resolved as its starting to become more of a faff than an enjoyment


Just stop testing and watch the fish and plants. Your eyes will tell you more then any test kit.

If you want to think of it in a more <"scientific manner">? You are conducting <"a bioassay"> and using <"Bayesian probability">. 

cheers Darrel


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

just done a deep clean on the scape trimmed some plants re-planted them took any leaves off that looked to be worse for wear to help the plants recover. done a 50% water change on the aquarium once all has been cleaned to get rid of any algae also cleaned all the dragon stone's leaving two with a small amount of algae nothing to serious then that will keep the pleco happy . I have decided to lower my lighting from 50% to 25% see how that work and after a wile I can up it slowly also I have changed the co2 bubble count from 10 to 4 just in case that was a factor into the algae issues. I have kept the co2 and lighting on the same schedule as before 6hrs 3pm-9pm lighting and 11.30pm-8pm co2 kept the temperature of the tank to 25'c. I shall add photos later once the fish have settled and the lighting is better


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## bazz (25 Jul 2021)

Hi mate,
Not sure we were both in the same ballpark earlier.


Nathanh2150 said:


> I run a 5kg co2 bottle with a 2 reg co2 art regulator bubble count 10 per minute the co2 checker is lime throughout the day untill co2 is turned off though a plug timer which comes on at 11.30-8.30pm.


You stated you were injecting 10 bubbles/minute and I explained that I was injecting 4 bubbles/second on a similar sized tank, have you now turned it down to 4/minute?
I know counting bubbles is not an exact science due to many differing parameters but it should be somewhere in this vicinity.
If were injecting 10 bubbles/second and you were not gassing your fish I suspect you have a leak.
Cheers!


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

@bazz hi no worries is it possible that you could add a video of your co2 bubble count so that could ideally help me out when I’m setting up the co2 as I don’t want to be in a situation where there’s too much 😊

This is my co2 atm unless it’s wrong hehe


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## bazz (25 Jul 2021)

Hope this works, been quite a few years since I've done this.


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

@bazz the video you sent won’t work not sure why 🙃


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## bazz (25 Jul 2021)

Nathanh2150 said:


> This is my co2 atm unless it’s wrong hehe


OK, That looks about right. Obviously keeping an eye on your drop checker and doing a PH profile will help confirm that you've nailed it.
Cheers!



Nathanh2150 said:


> @bazz the video you sent won’t work not sure why 🙃


Apparently still going through the checking procedure, will edit above post when it becomes available.


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

@bazz ok shall grab some destilled water tomorrow to set up my ph reader as haven’t had chance to grab any today as was doing the tank ☺️ And shall keep an eye out for ur video 👍🏻


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## mort (25 Jul 2021)

If you are swapping from 10 bubbles a minute to 4 or so a second I would really keep an eye on the fish and drop checker because it's easy to cause problems. It might be safer for you to slowly up the bubble count from what you had it at to a higher rate, over a few days. Not every tank is the same with flow and stocking so it could be that you need less co2.


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## John q (25 Jul 2021)

Nathanh, if you haven't already altered anything then please don't, other than reduce your lighting intensity to 25%. Next on the list (and probably the crucial part) is to do a ph profile as suggested by bazz ,(with your current injection rate), bubbles per second mean nothing, and doing a drastic change now could endanger your livestock.

Take 1hr readings of the ph from when the gas comes on and goes off, highlight in that report (which you post on here) when the lights turn on.

Then and only then can folks advise you how to proceed with the next step.

@Nathanh2150  Close your eyes. What do you hear? ... Do you hear the grasshopper which is at your feet? 😉


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

@John q hi John I have added a video of the co2 atm that’s a couple of posts above this one please could you take alook as I have changed the 10 bubble count and now worried as I don’t want to upset the fish 🐠 hehe also I have now added below some photos of the tank from today’s cleaning 🧽 also the current state of the co2 reader


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## John q (25 Jul 2021)

Yes I've seen the video, and your dc looks OK, so no need to panic.

My post above and possibly misplaced quote from kung-fu (i'm old) is an attempt to suggest to you the path you're taking at the minute is failing and its time for a re think. 

The point of doing a ph profile will allow people to determine if your injection rate is good or needs a tweak, then and only then can anybody advise you to increase or decrease the bubble rate. 

I believe you have a ph meter? Spend tomorrow doing a ph profile. 
Ph prior to gas on =
Every hour on the hour =
Lights on time = 

Hope this helps.


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## dw1305 (25 Jul 2021)

Hi all,


Nathanh2150 said:


> just done a deep clean on the scape trimmed some plants re-planted them took any leaves off that looked to be worse for wear to help the plants recover.


I'd probably avoid doing to much deep cleaning or plant trimming, just let the plants grow for a while.


Nathanh2150 said:


> ok shall grab some destilled water tomorrow to set up my ph reader as haven’t had chance to grab any today as was doing the tank


Distilled water won't read pH7. You need to use a "pH buffer",  pH is a <"really strange reading">. We buy these pH buffers for the lab., because making them isn't entirely straightforward.

cheers Darrel


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

@dw1305 hi I do have a ph reader but this will be the first time for me setting it up there are 3 bags to set up the ph reader I have added photos below. I have seen some videos on YouTube on how to set them up but if there’s anything I need to be a wear off ?


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## dw1305 (25 Jul 2021)

Hi all,


Nathanh2150 said:


> @dw1305 hi I do have a ph reader but this will be the first time for me setting it up there are 3 bags to set up the ph reader I have added photos below. I have seen some videos on YouTube on how to set them up but if there’s anything I need to be a wear off ?


No not really. Just pour the buffer into the DI water and then make it up to the right volume. You can use kitchen scales to weigh the water, 1cm3 (1 ml) weighs 1 gram (a litre of water weighs a kilogram).

cheers Darrel


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## Nathanh2150 (25 Jul 2021)

@dw1305 ok awesome I shall get it set up tomorrow once I have finnished work then on Wednesday I should do a hour schedule on the ph of the tank throughout the day then upload the results on this page 🙂

@John q looking on setting up the ph reader tomorrow and doing the testing on Wednesday so if I start the ph reading’s at 11.30am as that’s the time the co2 comes on in the aquarium and keep doing the readings every hour so at 
11.30am,12.30pm,1.30pm,2.30pm,3.30pm,4.30pm,5.30pm,6.30pm,7.30pm,8.30pm the co2 turns off at 8.30pm and the light at 9pm so do I do my last ph reading at 9pm?


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## John q (26 Jul 2021)

If you start doing the readings just prior to gas coming on (11.25 am) then follow your above times for the other readings, do the last one at 8.30pm just as the gas goes off.

The main thing people will be looking at is how much of a drop you get by the time the lights come on and then how stable that drop is for the remaining duration of co2 injection.


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