tank water testing / chemistry

[andruboz]

did my first tank water test 18 months after first getting aquariums. [ was worried that testing would give me something new to be obsessed about and turn this whole peaceful fish thing into a science project ]
so heres what i found out. ph between 7.4 and 7.8. traceable amounts amonia. very low gh. 160 ppm kh. nitrite .25 ppm
anything here i should worry about?
i have a feeling the kh will be much higher in my 10 gallon due to evaporation.

 

[gcvt]

I'd definitely be concerned about the ammonia and nitrite test results. Both are very toxic to fish and both should be undetectable in a tank of that age. What's your water-change schedule and amount? Which of your tanks is this?

 

[wetmanNY]

You have a "KH" of 160ppm, measured as calcium carbonate. But your "general hardness" is less than that, i.e. "very low"? How do you square these two test results?

Where do you figure the ammonia is coming from, that's overwhelming your biological filter (which is not merely located in the filter, after all)? Could it come from decomposition of organic matter, such as flakes and other food, or from plant materials? Could the decomposition be happening in your filters? Are you constantly turning over your gravel, so that nitrifiers are continually buried in the lower anoxic layers? What's depressing your nitrifying bacteria?

Or are you using AmQuel?

 

[andruboz]

well the amonia is from the guppies i brought home from my cousins house because he was moving and didnt want to move them. i picked up the oscar to eat the buggers but he has been eating everything else. it has been a week since the 25% water change and the filter media replacement. and not being a chemist, i have no idea why kh is hi and gh is low unless its due to the test kit i am using. [aquarium pharmaceuticals]