Well I found yet another silver tip dead this morning, so I did a full set of tests to see if that could be the reason (wouldn't really explain why all of my other fish are A-OK though). The results were:
ammonia: 0 ppm
nitrite: 0.25 ppm
nitrate: 40 ppm
pH: 7.2
GH: 11 degrees
KH: 6 degrees
I find these results interesting.
For one, if I check my KH and pH levels and get a rough measurement for my CO2 content I am at around 11ppm, which is a pretty good level. So I like those results. And I like having my pH around neutral right at lights on- means that nothing funny with CO2 is going on at night.
What I don't like is twofold:
1) I have some nitrites. I do not believe the levels to be high enough to kill my fish, however due to decomposition of my soil substrate, I believe it is possible for the plants to remove the nitrite and ammonia from the water during the day time when the lights are on, but at night it can do nothing about it so these levels might accumulate to toxic levels, to the point of killing off my new fish. What is odd about this theory however is that all of my old fish- neons, guppy *fry*, ottos and newish cories are all surviving and eating just fine.
2) My nitrates are very high, and I don't like it. This is weird because my plants cannot seem to survive without the 15ppm NO3 dose daily I am giving- I was giving 12ppm daily for a while and my stargrass eventually completely crashed, almost to the point of complete death in a matter of days. I am not going to change much here- but it does show that my weekly water changes are needed due to fert accumulation.
I am going to test the nitrogen tests as well as the pH test again later this afternoon to soo how the tank changes throughout the day, and also, hopefully, late tonight to see what I get at night. Should have probably done this a logn time ago but, well, I am doing it now :P |