ok???

hi,i have 2 29gallon long tanks,and i have just purchased a testing kit to use myself instead of taking samples to the local pet place and having them just say that my tanks are fine. my ph in both is 7.8-8.0, ammonia in both is 0, nitrite at most is 0.1 , nitrate is between 10 and 20, from what i could tell,although i had great difficulty in chosing which it was closer to on the nitrate between the 10 and the 20 colours. are these readings ok?

in 1 tank i have 2 pearl gourami, 1 golden gourami, 1 opeline gourami, 4 albino corydorus catfish and 1 clown plec.
in my other tank i have 1 angelfish, 5 congo tetra, 4 bronze corydorus catfish, 1 albino ruby shark, 1 male golden wonder panchax and 1 spotted headstand.

both tanks seem well, all stocks are doing well, no disease, no agression,all happy swimming around with fins up, all eating well on diet of king british flake (once daily a.m), freeze dried bloodworm, freeze dried tubifex, algea tablets/wafers, catfish pellets (different one each evening, variety makes them happier i think), and weekly treat of live brine shrimp. i do leave them with no food for 1 day a week, am i right to be doing this?

i am running a fluval 4+ on the gourami tank and a huge interpet filter with built in heater holder on the other tank (came with tank so have no idea what sort and havent seen one like it since), both tanks run at 78-79 degrees, and i do twice weekly pwc of 30%-40%, or if i cannot find time to do 2 a week i do 1 change of 50%-60%. the readings above were 3-4 days after 40% pwc in each tank.

just need to know some more experienced opinion as i have never tested my tanks before and although the books that came with the test do explain it all,and what sort of readings i should be looking to achieve, i would still like it from you guys as to what im looking for as it may differ from what the books say, i know that sounds daft but i just want to be sure.

thanks in advance :grinyes:

nitrites at 0.1 at most, surely thats not too bad, i could barely see any colour,not even really a hint, but i tend to edge on side of letting everyone know the worst it could be, so 0.1. or is it nitrates you meant at 10-20?

oh yeah, and tanks have been set up for -angel tank, couple yrs,brought it as complete set up few months ago, and gourami tank, 2-3months, although gouramis have only been in there for a week or so, up until then was just corys.

yes i use dechlorinator, every change, and something called water safe which supposedly helps nutralise fish waste and boosts filtration.

liquid, its nutrafin essential mini master.

will definately keep up with water changes, have now gotten into habit of doing them on weds morning when my kids are both at pre-school,and on sunday morning with my hubby helping, so will keep on with the 20-30% changes twice weekly. i love feeding them a variety, my angel actually puts his whole head out of the water to get to the food first, especially dried bloodworm, thats his favourite, ive never known such a 'tame' fish, he will always swim to whatever side of the tank im nearest to,its so sweet, i know its just for food but i like to think he might actually like me too :grinyes: . i do feel bad when its 'starve day' as i call it,coz he swims up to me with such expectation whenever i go near the tank! can someone just tell me what are 'safe' readings on my tests for nitrate, nitrite and amonia, or should all 3 be down to 0? in a fully cycled, mature tank, do any of these still show up? or do the bacteria deal with it all? sorry if that sounds very dumb, just wana make sure i get all my facts straight