So today I got Imagitarium 6-IN-1 Aquarium Test Strips to test my new 5 gallon freshwater tank that I have a male betta, some Mystery Snails, and am about to add some Neo Shrimp I got today. Since I’m adding the shrimp I wanted everything to be in a healthy range. However as I attempted to read the chart provided on the back of the bottle, I became confused primarily about the hardness and the pH color results. The directions say to immerse test strip in aquarium water for two seconds then remove. Then to wait 15 seconds and compare pH, Alkalinity, Hardness, and Chlorine against color chart, and wait 60 seconds and compare Nitrite and Nitrate against color chart. The first 3 photos are just of the color chart so you can see the whole thing, then the 4th photo is about 20-25 seconds after removing the strip and the last photo a bit over a minute after. As you can hopefully see in the photos, the colors change a good bit between each photo. At first the Hardness appears to match around 120 and the pH I’m not entirely sure. But over time the Hardness becomes more blue around the edges and the pH more pink around the edges. I assume because of the directions stating to read those after 15 seconds, that the earlier photo is the more accurate representation of the results. But the pH color seems to match the “Salt” 7.6 and I guess in the “Fresh” section would be closest to 8.4? I live in San Diego and our water is very hard, when googled, it says it measures around 280. And our pH is quite Alkaline at around 8. So if my results show a high pH what can I do to lower it? And how can I soften my water as well? What will high pH and hard water do to my new shrimp and existing betta and snails? Thanks!
Posted by Signsandsignals
4 Comments
Get another testing kit tbh. When i was new to fish keeping, I found that online and it looked promising cause I was cheap and a 6-in-1 but it’s a hard pass for me. Try getting the API brand instead or ones that indicate amonia, nitrate, nitrite and PH
My advice is to ditch testing strips and get liquid tests. They’re more cost effective and test the things you actually need to worry about. And they’re more accurate. The API master test kit is the best one. I’ve had mine for a year and a half and haven’t had to replace anything yet. They sell other bottles of testing liquid that doesn’t come in the master test kit, too.
High ph is ideal for snails and neocardinia shrimp. So is hard water. The ideal for bettas is low ph but I get mine living more than 4 years in 8.2, they’ve been captive bred for ages so it doesn’t really matter. Low ph actively harms snails and they will fall apart.
Test strips are often inaccurate, liquid tests are more reliable and can also be used for more tests.
Don’t do anything to alter the ph.
The fish, snails and shrimp will all be fine. Stability is far more important.
When you introduce new fish, just drip acclimate them slowly before adding so they don’t get a shock.