Water

[Guest Metalhypnosis]

Hey can anyone explain to me what the amonia, PH, Nitrites, and nitrate levels for GF and Betta? Also can anyone explain to me what each are and their uses.....

[ryukingirl793]

Well, they are all different elements in your tank water. Ammonia is produced by fish and is also toxic to them. It should ideally be at 0 parts per million(ppm). After a while, bacteria grow to turn the toxic ammonia into almost-as-toxic nitrite. This is also toxic and should also ideally be at 0ppm. Later, bacteria grow to turn this into harmless nitrate, which is okay but can be stressful in large amounts (20 ppm is fine). PH is the level of acidity in the water. The lower the number, the more acidic it is. Seven point something is usually good. All these measurements are your water params.They don't really have uses, but they are just annoying things that can be the difference between great water and toxic water. The process in which the beneficial bacteria grow is called cycling. You can find a section about it on this site. These bacteria are often referred to here as biobugs, and take a while to grow. Therefore, you should never change 100% of your water at a time, and you don't want to completely clean out the tank ornaments or gravel or anything because they also live on there. I hope this helped.

[DataGuru]

Here is a summary on water quality that I put together from Dr Tim's library. Links to his original articles are at the bottom. They're definitely worth a read.

With goldies pH in the mid-high 7s is good. KH around 120ppm. GH between 100 and 300. nitrAte below 40. nitrIte and ammonia at 0ppm.

[Guest Metalhypnosis]

Thanks Ryukingirl, you explained like a professor!