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hi guys,what tests do you guys do on your chiclid tanks and how often do yous test,i test for ,ammoina,nitrite,nitrate,ph,kh,gh,i do this once a fortnight,am i testing enuff,and my kh/gh test kit is out of date,should i bother replacing this,i have a freind who rekons as long as your ph is correct for the fish you keep and your water changes are regular,that those 2 tests (kh/gh)are pointless,it didnt sound correct to me,so im asking you guys.what do yous think

When I first started keeping fish I tried to do a full set of tests(ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, ph, kh, gh..) monthly. Now it's more like yearly unless I'm specifically messing around with a certain parameter or if I'm getting impatient I'll test a newly set up tank once or twice just to see where it's at in cycling. I know what my water is like and can usually anticipate the impact of anything I do to it. If I dilute it with RO water I already know what ph and hardness I'm going to get before I test it. I know about how long it will take my tanks to cycle and about what numbers I'll get based on how I set it up and how I'm cycling it. So really while it was the best thing I could do when I first got into fish now I understand things well enough I don't really need a test kit. You can definitely keep fish without ever using a test kit but it takes out the guess work and helps you learn faster about how to keep the water quality up.

Ph does generally reflect kh which usually is fairly close to gh unless someone has tampered with the water filtering the general hardness minerals out. Water softeners will change the gh and not the kh. Otherwise unless you add an acid a set kh always equals a set ph. Adding peat moss, driftwood, other tannin sources, co2, or other acids will change that relationship but straight out of the tap most of the time you can guess approximately what the kh is from the ph. On really softwater you still may want to test it because you have less buffer and therefore a smaller margin for error but when dealing with a the hardwater cichlid tanks you can pretty much assume the kh is more than enough to buffer the water. If the ph is up near 8.0 or higher the kh is rarely a concern.

I hardly ever test my tanks. I test the pH in my Malawi cichlid tank maybe once every 2 weeks to make sure the crushed coral is doing its job, but thats about it. If I miss a weekly water change, I'll test for nitrAtes just to make sure they aren't high. They usually aren't though, so really I hardly ever test. If my fish seemed distressed or something I'd probably test for ammonia, but that hasn't happened because I'm pretty consistent with my weekly water changes and have good filtration.

Unless your tank is cycling, I wouldn't test that much...maybe once a month. Maybe.

*Kristin*

I've recently (six months ago or so) set up a 20 gallon tanganyikan tank and a grow-out tank for my caudopunk fry. My tap water is ridiculously soft (it doesn't register on the Gh test), so when I do water changes, I have to do testing each time of both the tank water and the new water I'll be adding. I use a Ph test and a Gh test when I do water changes, sometime more than once on the new water so I know I've added the right amount of buffers and salts.
I know a lot of people who say that the crushed coral and limestone (I use an aragonite and black sand substrate with lots of florida moonrock hardscape) will buffer their water enough that they don't need to add buffering powders and such, but I tried that before I added fish, and couldnt get a Ph above 7.5 and hardness fluctuated every time I topped off the water or even changed the filter. Your milage may very well vary and you should act accordingly.

I only test ammonia/nitrate/nitrite if I'm seeing the beginnings of a problem. This is a very reactionary response and many would say that I could avoid the problems in the first place if I tested regularly, but once I tank has been set up for more than two months, it should be mature enough to be pretty stable with regular maitenance. If it's not, then there's a bigger problem than testing regularly.

Hoping that there must be a word for everything I mean...

Agree with the others. I dont test ammonia or
nitrItes unless I suspect a problem.
I do test NitrAtes regularly though, and record
them. I probably test nitrates once weekly on average,
about 3 days before my scheduled water change.
This way I can monitor that my water changes are
indeed sufficient, or can become aware of changes
in tank chemistry.
I also used to test PH once to twice weekly,
but now I have some of those cool, stick to the inside
of the tank ph monitors. No I no longer need to test
ph at all.




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where do you get the PH strips, do they measure like a thermometer measures temp? I only check for PH and nitrates like once every two weeks. The nitrites and ammonia get tested like once every two months, really I'm not even sure its that often. thus all the xtra liquid for these tests.

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Ph stick on strips aren't the most accurate thing around. Might be useful to quickly see if your ph has changed but they aren't detailed and they are often off by even several numbers. Best to verify with a liquid kit every so often or if there is any change.

The ph thing isnt a strip.
Its a little round dial with a sensor in
the middle which you replace every so often.
I think its every 3 months.
Ive checked with my drip test to check its
accuracy, and its dead on. It will sense ph
fluctuations with minutes.

Heres what they look like:

http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/pHAlert.html

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I know the test strips are not the best but I figured 'So Sneaky' was talking about a different tool which seems to be the case. I have never seen one of these but I'll be on the look out for it on my next trip to the LFS.

By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll be happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher.
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well thanx HEAPS EVERYONE as always great info.most of the time i feal as im wasting my test kits,because most of my tanks are larger and have been up and running for ages i hardly ever get any test results that are out of wackand like i said i test fortnightly,i think now ill just lay off the testing,thanx again guys/:'

I didn't mean test strips. There are little stick on ph strips much like the stick on thermometers that do not work very well. Perhaps seachem has designed a better version.

i like the idea or that ph dial that you mentioned above,what did that cost you?

Costs 10 dollars give or take a buck or two,
and comes with an extra sensor.
Claims to be accurate for 3-6 months,
so 2 sensors should last 6-12 months.
Not too pricey at all I think.


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cool thanx,i have to make a stop at my lfs totdy so ill have a looktop idea.