i recently got back into keeping fish and started a 20 gallon long. i have some experience with keeping fish but have a whole lot to learn, still. i want some help interpreting the results of my water tests.
i am 18 days into cycling the tank with a single feeder gold fish. i have been doing 50-75% water changes every other day. i was slacking a bit and only picked up a test kit yesterday. i tested the ammonia and nitrites last night. the ammonia was at .25 and the nitrites i estimated at 4 (it is hard for me to tell the differences on the color chart for nitrites). i did a 75% water change.
today, i tested again, including testing the ph and ammonia levels of the tap water.
the water from the tap had an ammonia reading of .5 and a ph of 8.4
the tank water had an ammonia reading of .25 and a ph of 7.4 (i am guessing because of the drift wood in the tank)
nitrites of the tank water tested at 4 and nitrates of 80
i am curious as to why my nitrates are testing so high. i feed the one gold fish just a very small amount, once daily. like one flake crushed up. when i started the tank i used substrate from a tank i had been running a couple years ago. i am wondering if perhaps there was fish waste/some food in the substrate which is causing some issues?
i am going to bump up the water changes and do them daily instead of every other...50-75%.
any help interpreting my readings would be very much appreciated. thanks.