Hi! I posted a question regarding what I thought was brown algae in my 10 gallon tank and it was suggested I get this kit to test the water for imbalances. The tank has been set up for at least 3 months and is heavily planted, stocked with 6 neon tetras, two DAF and one otto cat. I have since found green hair algae growing as well, but after cutting back to 10 hours of light and skimping on the food, the algae seems to be clearing up. Meanwhile, I did get the kit and the results were as follows:

PH (reg): 7.6
PH High: 7.4
Ammonia: 0-.25
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0

According to the kit, these readings should be just right. I followed the instructions carefully. I am not sure about the PH levels and I don't know about the difference between the reg PH and the high PH test. I have also read that CO2 would be beneficial in keeping the algae under control. Is that required in such a small tank? Are there any other tests I should be doing?
I appreciate any input you can give me! Man, am I glad this site was up and running again - I about had a stroke when I couldn't get the website up!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

I can tell you right now you did the nitrate test wrong, but everyone does at first. It is almost impossible to run any freshwater tank without any detectable nitrate. Read the instructions on that one very carefully and follow them to the letter. You need to shake bottle 2 for the full 30 seconds before adding the drops and then shake the vial for a full 60 seconds. If you don't do this you will get a false 0.

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Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.

I would actually recommended shaking nitrate bottle #2 for a good minute to 2 minutes. I've gotten some wonky readings even having shaken the bottle for 30 seconds.

It is rare to get a zero reading for nitrates. A lot of shaking involved for that test for sure.

Wel-l-l-l, I did all the shaking according to the directions (1 full minute) but I will repeat the test for sure. I do regular water changes and I use spring water exclusively. Is the 0 reading for the nitrate bad? Our well water is not good and the frog folks recommended using it for the frogs. I think I will run all the tests on our well water, but my main concern there is the hardness. I also recycle the spring/tank water by using it to water my orchids ~ they do very well on the used "tank" water! Good fertilizer!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

OK! I redid the Nitrate test twice again. I enlisted the aid of my husband to make sure I did EVERYTHING according to the directions, inverting the tubes and shaking the tubes and bottle #2 as directed. I did the timing according to a stop watch and a kitchen timer. I ran 2 tests just to make sure I counted the right number of drops for each bottle. The test, in both cases, came out "0". The water in the 2 tubes are the same exact color. What am I doing wrong if I keep getting the "0" reading and is this a bad thing? If this is not a good thing, what do I need to do to correct the nitrate level in the tank? Also, what about the PH? Should it be lower? Thank you, everyone, for helping me with this!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

PS: My husband is a chemical engineer, so I do trust his judgement.

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

Okay, I guess you have 0 nitrates. Not bad, just a little unusual. Your ph is fine, don't mess with it. Not sure why you're adding spring water (bottled water)? Having hardness in your water is not bad. The problem with using things like filtered water is it usually comes stripped of all gh and kh. If the kh has been stripped to 0, then your tank will not be able to naturally brace against ph changes and it will fluctuate and can cause stress on your fish and kill them. I always recommend no more than 50% and I have well water for my tap also. Why do you say your well water is not good?

The ammonia reading is probably false - I get 0.25 ppm ammonia religiously, even from my tap water.

Did you really SHAKE the bottle and then SHAKE the nitrate tube with solution in it, or did you just invert the tube for 1-2 minutes? I wrap my hand around the tube, press on the cap with my thumb, and shake the #$%^$& out of the tube. The bottle gets equally rattled.

Used to get zero readings all the time, but no longer.

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Officially fishless until after the move....tune in later for details!

Agreed, tilting back and forth won't do it. You are waiting five minutes before reading the results aren't you?

0ppm nitrate is ideal, and very unlikely. Unless a tank is very well planted or has some sort of biomedia that allows for denitrification, it won't run 0ppm nitrate.

__________________
Biologist-Professional Aquarium Care-Published Author (Aquarium Fish International Magazine)

Stocking has NOTHING to do with tank volume, it is all about water changes.

Gosh, I am totally flummoxed and bummed. No matter what I do, I get the same readings for nitrate ~ 0 (real yellow). As to following the instructions to the "T", I certainly have done that for all 5 nitrate tests. After adding the 10 drops from bottle #1, I inverted the tube several times to mix the solution as instructed. I then shook bottle #2 vigorously for 30+ seconds. After adding the solution from bottle #2, I vigorously shook the tube for over one minute. I let the color develop for 5 minutes. It was yellow ~ it remained yellow for at least an hour before I threw the water out. I have run these tests over several days and the test results have not changed despite the fact that I have not changed any water in the tank for over a week. Foot surgery has prevented me from standing for any length of time thus water changes will be done less often for the next several weeks.

The test for ammonia is still between 0 and .25 or maybe closer to the .25 since the chart is not showing this particular shade of yellow/green. I have tested that 3 times. I realize that one might think I am not doing these tests properly, but, I assure you I am. As for the spring water, it is not filtered, but comes from underground springs ~ water in it's natural state. Spring water was recommended for my frogs and I have continued using it despite moving them from the 4" cube they came in, to the 10 gallon tank they now call home. The ph levels have stayed the same (7.6) for as long as I have had the tank. I really hate to admit this, but I didn't even "cycle" the tank for more than a week.

My Tank
Plants: 2 mellon swords, 2 anubias barteri var. nana, 2 java ferns, 1 crytocoryne parva, 1 crytocoryne wendtii green, and various bunch plants. Oh, and a controlled amount of duckweed.
Heater: Eheim Ebo Jager
Substrate: Aquariumplants.com's special substrate for freshwater planted tanks
Lighting: Current USA Nova Extreme T-5 fixture with (2) 6500K freshwater bulbs.
Filters: 2 Whisper 3i filters
Decorations: real driftwood and rocks.

Short of being totally without a clue (an idiot), having a faulty test kit, or having alien spring water, I don't know why I am getting these persistent test readings. I guess I just have to accept what I have and go from there. I appreciate everyone's input. I will attempt to upload a picture of my tank. Oops! I seem to have reflections in the tank. More practice is necessary I guess!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

I forgot to ask about the CO2 again. Do you think that is a good idea for this tank?

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

What size tank is this? Size of the light fixture - wattage of bulbs?

I have a 10 gallon tank and I use Current Extreme T-5 with (2) 6500 K freshwater bulbs.
I was using (3) T-5 bulbs but I think, maybe, that was too much light and contributed to the algae growth. After I removed the 3rd bulb, the algae seemed to recede and is now almost totally gone. I also cut back on the hours of light from 12 to 10. The plants are growing just fine and I don't really want them to grow (ha! ha!)more as they are overtaking the tank. I just thought the CO2 would help the algae problem and prevent further growth?

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

I would look into to starting a DIY CO2.

Hi Ben; I was thinking about the Fluval mini CO2 canister which would be the right size for my tank. Kens Fish has them and they are relatively reasonably price. I am no good at the DIY thing. Would that be a good choice? I appreciate your help! Thanks again!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!

IMO, a little costly for your size tank. Go to the DIY section in this forum and look at the DIY CO2 thread. Not too difficult.

I will definitely check that out. I will have to admit though, at my age, I am leaning toward the "store-bought" variety despite the cost! I am into sewing and stuff but the mechanical things aren't my bailiwick. My husband might lend me a hand though, so who knows? I appreciate your suggestions - thanks!

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AVATAR: Wallace's Flying Frog: a moss frog found from the Malay Peninsula into western Indonesia.
Their webbed feet are their "wings"!