# Do you trust your test kits and medicine ?



## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

Hi Guys

After my latest experiences I'd like to know if I can trust anything sold over the counter in it LFS Stores, like test kits and medicine. Here is the reason I do not want to trust them: A week ago I discovered fungus with one of my fish. I went and bought API Fungus cure that I've been told one of the best up there. After following the instructions and treating my fish the result is:
My fish is dead, so the cure did not work. My plants are damaged and need to be replaced. Here is total lose after all that: $12 - medication, $ 3 - Fish, $ 25 Plants = $40. Now I have been recommended to go and buy API liquid test kit as my Tetra test stripes are not good enough. Let's look on the possible outcome of this move. Bought the kit, tested the water and found issues (that my stripes did not show), bought API medication, nuked the tank after a while the whole tank is upside down and I have to restart it. Total lose over $400. Business people are very happy as I have to keep spending on my tank. I'm not !!! API now owned by Mars (chocolate company) and I have read on internet that lately their stuff is not accurate. So I think it is cheaper and more fun to just buy chocolate fish and put in the tank !!!

I HOPE YOU CAN PROOF ME WRONG !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

Actually, you should've started with liquid test kits in the first place. A pack of test strips costs 15$ and can be used 25 times. A nitrate liquid test kit also costs 15$ and can be used 100 times.

I can't say anything about medications as I never use them. However, I don't understand your logic. You seem to be saying that if a liquid tests shows high nitrates, you need to buy medication???

This tells me that maybe you haven't understood a thing I've been saying.

You don't need medication if you keep your tank healthy. If you want to keep a healthy tank, you need accurate test kits.

Oh and yes, I trust my API liquid test kit.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

Yeah... I've tried using meds in the past but now I just follow this general idea: 
1. cycle tank first (takes lots of patience), 
2. add fish SLOWLY, Just a couple each week...understocking, ...I find my fish live longer and maintenance is easier if I understock a little. 
3. Only ever buy healthy fish. Look for round bellies (but not really fat, just not shrunken, this is a dead givaway that fish are unwell), alertness and fins held out widely (not clamped in to the body). Depending on the type of fish, I usually try to hand-pick the ones I want, picking the biggest and strongest looking ones in the tank. If you let the staff pick them, you end up with the slowest fish in the tank sometimes, because they were the easiest to catch. With fast schooling fish, I just make sure to say, "please get me some nice, big, healthy ones" as they are putting their net in the water, and I think this simple polite phrase often gets the store associate take just a few extra seconds to get better fish.
4. use a quarentine tank once you get to the point where the older, healthy fish are worth more than $30 (the cost of a simple tank plus crappy/used filter or air bubbler and heater ie. quarentine tank). 
5. don't overfeed. If you're not sure if you are, then it's better to underfeed than to overfeed.

With a bit of luck, they'll make it past the 3 week mark, and then, as long as you do a little maintenance once in awhile, will be healthy for the long haul. It's frustrating when you are starting out because most of the disease and death happens right after you bring new fish home, so it's easy to get discouraged early on.

If fish in quarentine do get sick, just feed less, do daily 50% water changes and increase temp to 80 degrees, maybe add some aquarium salt. If they get better, great, if not, well the store will give you credit sometimes, right? There's never any antibiotics or antifungal medications in nature.

There's always exceptions, though. I'd treat with ick meds if I saw ick on fish in quarentine, and I might treat a fish for bacteria or fungus if the illness was the result of an injury.

Another thing: what fish got fungus? I find livebearers (guppies, platies, swordtails, and especially mollies) need some aquarium salt in the water otherwise they are suceptable to fungus. Some fish don't like salt though, and I don't mix them.

Also, I agree that you should test periodically for nitrate with a liquid test kit. I do.

That was long-winded... hope it helps.


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## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

Solarz. I understood and appreciate your advice regarding changing light to the stronger one (that I already have) This question and comment was for others who suggested that my water quality is bad and I need to keep medicating my tank. Also comprehensive liquid test kit (Ammonia, NO2, NO3, etc) costs $40
http://www.bigalspets.ca/fish/water-testing-equipment/freshwater-master-test-kit.html
In addition what I also do not understand is that you all guys complained that my water is no good and my NO3 probably high, this is why my lifebreaders are dieing. So how you explain the fact that in my shrimp tank where the water conditions are perfect (I'm very sure NO3 are close to 0) where I have plants growing like crazy and very strong light none of the baby guppies survived to the adult age. I had 5-10 at the time every 2-3 months over 1 year period of time ???? And that tank's water was tested with liquid kit 5-6 months ago and all the parameters were 0


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## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

JulieFish.
I followed steps you described a year ago when I started my 30Gl tank which was my second. I have 10Gl where I did not have so many issues. All my fish picked by my friend who is local BA fish room manager and I always get best and strongest fish available. The fish that got fungus was Otto. The problem is that nothing up there is accurate enough that you can trust it 100%.


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## JulieFish (Apr 8, 2011)

ppaskova said:


> The problem is that nothing up there is accurate enough that you can trust it 100%.


Ain't it the truth  this is what happens when you want a hobby that is alive: everything is very complicated. I still love fishkeeping though.


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## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

ppaskova said:


> Solarz. I understood and appreciate your advice regarding changing light to the stronger one (that I already have) This question and comment was for others who suggested that my water quality is bad and I need to keep medicating my tank. Also comprehensive liquid test kit (Ammonia, NO2, NO3, etc) costs $40
> http://www.bigalspets.ca/fish/water-testing-equipment/freshwater-master-test-kit.html
> In addition what I also do not understand is that you all guys complained that my water is no good and my NO3 probably high, this is why my lifebreaders are dieing. So how you explain the fact that in my shrimp tank where the water conditions are perfect (I'm very sure NO3 are close to 0) where I have plants growing like crazy and very strong light none of the baby guppies survived to the adult age. I had 5-10 at the time every 2-3 months over 1 year period of time ???? And that tank's water was tested with liquid kit 5-6 months ago and all the parameters were 0


No, you don't need to medicate your tank because your water quality is bad. You completely misunderstood.

The others suggested that you medicate the tank because *you had sick fish*. Medication is for treating sick fish. Good water quality is for keeping fish from getting sick in the first place. Good water quality will not magically cure fish that are already sick. They need either medication, or fight off the disease on their own.

As for your shrimp tank with the baby guppies, there can be a variety of reasons why they don't survive. Maybe they're not getting the necessary kind of food. Maybe they're too inbred to survive. Maybe they're getting sucked into the filter. Maybe you have another tank inhabitant that is preying on them.

The point is, you need to think about problems logically. Just because some fish don't survive in what looks like good water conditions, doesn't mean good water conditions don't matter!

Finally, this is what I suggested you get:
http://www.bigalspets.ca/fish/water-testing-equipment/nitrate-test-kit-freshwater-saltwater.html

The comprehensive kit is only useful if you need to check your pH, or if you need to cycle a tank.


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## chinamon (Jun 16, 2012)

i have never used any medication in my tanks because all my tanks are shrimp-only.

however, i do trust my API freshwater master test kit.


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## bob123 (Dec 31, 2009)

I test my tanks (14) once a month for nitrates and ammonia just to keep ahead of any problems. Some fish are more sensitive than others to diseases. Overfeeding is something that raises nitrate levels which can lead to disease.


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## RevoBuda (Sep 3, 2011)

It's unfortunate that you choose to not follow the advice that you seek. Based on many of your posts, you do not understand the importance of keeping stable tanks for the health of your livestock. 

Your problem stems from being stubborn and too proud to find a true solution. You're looking for someone to blame as opposed to addressing issues that have been pointed out to you.

I wish you luck and hope you find the proper 'mix' to run healthy tanks. 

I will no longer comment on your posts moving forward because it seems you would rather complain and create threads than truly solving your issues. 

Remember these are live animals that feel and think so they should not be thought as disposables!!



Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I agree with everyone's replies

I trust API liquid tests, they should be done at least once a month

Water changes need to be done

Proper feeding needs to be done

quarantine tank is highly recommended

Otto's are notorious for just falling dead, like dwarf gourami

Fish keeping is not an exact science, its an art

I killed dozens of fish in my first months in this hobby, now it is extremely rare for a fish to die. I had one die the other day that I knew didnt have long, it looked really old.

Every single tank is different, you may care for them all the same but there is always something different in every tank you have.

Take things slow, best medicine is prevention in the first place. This means regular testing, water changes and feeding.


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## ppaskova (Apr 27, 2010)

OK, Just tested both of my tanks (10gl shrimp tank and 30Gl fish tank) with API liquid test kit, and there are the results (they are identical for both tanks):
Ammonia - 0.25 (second "yellow" spite on the top after the to white one indicating 0)
No2 - 0
No3 - 5 Ml/L (also second stripe from the top)
PH - 7.5-7.7 ( right between second bottom blue stripe and the last one on the bottom)


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