Learning to test my water...

Ok so I've had my 29 gallon up and running for a couple weeks now. I used premixed saltwater from my LFS and just over 30 lbs of LR. I drop a small piece of shrimp in the water about middle of week 1. My first test was all 0's except for pH = 8.0. The next test was the same except ammonia was .025. Tested this morning and pH is 8.4 and everything else 0. Can anyone help me out with these readings. I was expecting some changes but not so much in the pH area...

Thanks in advance


ok after the about 10 mins the test actually shows ammonia at .025--no change, but pH is still at 8.4.

Is a spike in pH normal during a cycle?

 

The pH can change depending on how much CO2 is in the house and how surface disturbance you have.

 

hmmm, ok. Well I moved the powerhead yesterday just to change the flow up a little, could that have something to do with it?

 

Try to test the same time of day every time you test. You are going to get your highest pH towards the end of the photoperiod and your lowest value before the lights come on, unless you are running macro algae on a reverse lighting schedule.