# quick question guys/gals



## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

hey yea'll, i have a quick question. I have 4 prinstilla tetras and 4 serpae tetras in a 10 gal tank. When i first got the tank the prinstillas where getting nipped at. it was only affecting the fin that is on top. I look at them today and they are back to normal. is this a sigh of happy healthy fish? I have been doing weekly partal water changes, only till the lowest the water level can get for my filter. I was really wondering if they are happy and healthy since the fins grew back. I also know that there needs to be at least five of each fish so that they can shoal. i plan on adding one more of each here soon, im just letting the tank get acustomed to the 8 fish that are in there. any help would be great. Also i do not have anything to test my levels in my tank. thanks yea'll.


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

you really must get a water test kit. you need to know what's going on with the water. it's very important.


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

this is true i really need to but i am flat ass broke right now. and i dont think my mom will get me to many more things for my tank. even though she does work at a lfs.


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

I didn't think my parents would get me more stuff for my Water Dragon, and so I was afraid to ask. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO ASK! My Water Dragon DIED as a result.

She may not be willing to get you decorations, but a test kit is very important for you to be able to keep your fish healthy. With the kit, you'll know if something goes wrong and be able to fix it.

PS: It's spelled "y'all"


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

yea thats true, we r goin out to wal-mart tomorow so i will see if wal-mart had the full kit. and this is true, i can even test my water that i use to do my water changes lol. and thanks trout always wondered how to spell that lol.


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

Glad I could help!

Oh, Ya know I've seen a Lot of Washingtonian's on here! That's sooooo cool. We should have a convention, haha.


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

yea we should that would be sick as hell lol. but yea i will go to wal-mart tomorow and get the jungle 5 n 1 test strips which have the ph, nitrItes, nitrAtes, alkalinity, and hardness. have any of you guys used these? r they pretty good? or should i just go with the master kit which is 25 bucks on wal-mart.com. any help would be good.


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

My master drop kit doesn't have the hardness test in it. It has pretty much everything else, though. pH, High Range pH, Ammonia, Nitrite, and Nitrate. It's going to last me forEVER.


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

lucky lol to bad we dont live closer lol then we could share lol. but does anyone else have any info on these jungle 5 n 1 test strips? or should i just go with the other kind of testing?


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## baileysup (Nov 25, 2009)

the liquid test kits are more accurate than the paper strip test kits, but the paper test kit would be WAY better than nothing at all. if you have the money, you should buy a freshwater liquid master kit. it will last you a very long time. API makes an excellent one called the API Freshwater Master Test Kit. this is the one that many people use (including me), and it's only $30. when you think about how long it will last you, it's really not a bad deal. i was just looking at mine, and it says it's good for over 800 tests.


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

Those strips are not worth the money, they are not the most accurate, if any moisture gets in the bottle they will be ruined, and you have to still by the ammonia test strips separate for the same price so when your done you have over 20 dollars in your strips, and for $10 more you can buy a master FW test kit that will last you years and beyond matters how anal you are about testing.


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## Cichlid Dude! (Mar 15, 2011)

When I checked out the test strips in my local pet store, the most expensive paper strip test kit was about 17$!!! I wish I knw why 50 teenie tiny strips of paper cost as much as a blue ram!


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

Yeah, I went with the API one. Figured it would be more for my money than with the Papers. Plus it's what the lady who always helps me at Petco recommended.


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

this is true i will go to my works wish is my lfs and lps lol. i get 10% off of what they buy stuff for lol. i got my prinstillas for .80 cents and my serpaes for .90 cents lol. they are regularly like 2-3 bucks a pop lol. but i will go in there monday and pester my mom to get me the liquid test strips if they have them lol. and i got some test strips from my grandma even though they are for a hot tub lol, it still gave me my ph in my tank which is 7.2. which is ok i believe for the tetras lol. i shall look on our fish profiles in a sec lol. and you guys are a hell of a lot more helpfull than tfk. they wouldnt even answer when i posted a question lol. thanks for the help guys!


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

LOL... I bought my test strips from walmart for 10$ cause I just set up my tank and needed readings and my LFS didnt have a master test kit in and I lost mine in the move and they sold the same test strips as walmart but for 7 bucks more so I went the wal-mart route, so a week later my LFS calls me to let me know my test kit was in, so i had a full bottle of strips still and didnt want to just throw them away so a week later i get my hot tub set up and went to the hot-tub store to buy a water tester and seen they had strips that where the same as the fishtank strips.... so moral of the story is my 11$ didnt go to waist cause the strips turned out to be perfect for hottub testing cause they dont need to be to accurate just anough to know its good anough to soak in.


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

That is a funny story Chronoboy! I wish I could get a hot tub to soak in, haha.


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

lol thats great!! yea im just glad that i know my ph lol. in my tank its 7.2 and in the tap water that i use which doesnt come from the city it comes from a creek that is ever flowing all year around, and it even has some trout in it lol. but that ph is at 6.2 lol. but the fish seem to love the water lol. they seem really happy in it lol. but tuesday i should be getting my test strips or fluid tester thingy lol. im just wondering if i should put one more of each fish in there, or if i would be overloaded on fish in there if i add them.


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## platies pwn (Nov 29, 2010)

serpa_man said:


> this is true i will go to my works wish is my lfs and lps lol. i get 10% off of what they buy stuff for lol. i got my prinstillas for .80 cents and my serpaes for .90 cents lol. they are regularly like 2-3 bucks a pop lol. but i will go in there monday and pester my mom to get me the liquid test strips if they have them lol. and i got some test strips from my grandma even though they are for a hot tub lol, it still gave me my ph in my tank which is 7.2. which is ok i believe for the tetras lol. i shall look on our fish profiles in a sec lol. and you guys are a hell of a lot more helpfull than tfk. they wouldnt even answer when i posted a question lol. thanks for the help guys!


not to be mean,but i realized after almost every sentence you wrote lol


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## chronoboy (Jan 17, 2011)

Hot tubs are great after a hard days work, but I never seem to use it as much as I should, when I first got it I was always in it, but then I got married and my wife is in the army so we never have time to enjoy it and sitting in a hot tub alone is boring, so now I maybe use it three times a month,not really worth the extra $20 a month to keep it running.


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

true that, i dont blame u there


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

alright here comes another quick question guys/gals, my lfs guy where my mom works said that you dont need all of the other tests all you have to worry about is nitrAtes. So in other words i didnt get my test kit like i was hopin today i gotta wait until saturday. but anyway, i know this guy is wrong but i thought i would tell you guys.


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## Trout (Mar 16, 2011)

Well, once you're absolutely certain that your tank is cycled, you only really need to worry about Nitrates, but sometimes, like when adding new fish, you ought to test the ammonia and nitrites, just to make sure you're not overtaxing the natural filter :/

So, in a way, he's right. Just not COMPLETELY right.


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## serpa_man (Mar 7, 2011)

lol. and i dono if my tank is fully cycled thats the only thing. i have done two partial water changes in it. and i would feel better about knowing whats goin on in the tank lol. and i can test my creek water for tap water lol since thats what we use. and there is fish in the creek water we use for water lol. dono what that means but its gotta be something lol.


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