Fish tank testing & water parameters MASTERCLASS

[@jonathonpena5368]

I found Matt from MD Fish Tanks, and I cannot stop binging his videos!

[@gibbnasta]

Same and now I watch Matt more

[@FishShopMatt]

Thanks for watching! 💜

[@janetaylor8635]

Me too, Matt is the best.

[@wirtification]

I miss you and MD collaborating and doing videos together, just saying. I enjoy watching you both!!!!

[@raygiannamore]

The amount of real teaching you do is so greatly appreciated.

[@Matthew.Henley]

Always knowledgeable. Thanks Matt 🐠

[@FishShopMatt]

Any time! Glad you liked it!

[@mildredpadilla5734]

Very educational and helpful thank you❤❤

[@FishShopMatt]

Glad it was helpful!

[@stevecooper6653]

There you go guys and girls one of the best test kits out there,and the easiest to read and understand..so don’t buy any of the rest BUY THE BEST ( NT LABS TEST KIT ) 👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻👌🏻

[@FishShopMatt]

Thanks Steve! I couldn't agree more! Hahaha

[@RatHeadzHunter]

Man!! You brought this out at perfect timing! Just got the tank set up yesterday!!

[@FishShopMatt]

Glad I could help! I look forward to hearing how the tank gets on!

[@bryancrossman704]

Great video! Would you be interested in doing a video on old tank syndrome since you mentioned it here. I have had my first tank going for over 2 years now and have noticed the pH starting to creep lower than my tap water just like you mentioned in this video.

[@zombi3907]

I would like to know more about this as well. I have a similar issue.

[@FishShopMatt]

Thank you so much! I will have a look into making such a video!

[@Spearse29]

Could it be leached substances from wood and rock have run out no longer affecting the levels and lower level substrate needs boosting as it's used up it's greatest resources. I have a planted tank between 2 and 3 years which I have to GH up buffer every 7 days or it suffers. I can noticeable see the wood degrading naturally and plants changing. My tap water kh and ph is nearly zero so I add nt labs kh up weekly and supplement with root tabs and have stability still. I can't take my eyes of the ball for a second. 4 generations of full community tank have and are breeding still and no sickness and a surprise hatch of approx 50 pleco babies. Hard work but so worth it, these tanks grow old like us and need boosting on occasion. 😊

[@christy7635]

Great and timely video! Really wanted to try this test kit. And according to your tests today my number are good 👍🏻 Thank Matt, always enjoy your videos (both channels) 😊

[@FishShopMatt]

Glad it was helpful! 💜

[@Spearse29]

Awesome, i use this kit its like watching myself xx

[@Zofour]

The potential difference in pH readings from AM to PM seems so obvious after hearing it but I don’t know if I’d have thought about it on my own. Thanks Matt!

[@K3rryLou]

Thanks for the video Matt,. I have the NT labs kit for just ammonia nitrite and pH but definitely going to purchase the bigger kit. I can then look into what fish I would like to keep. Keep up the good work new viewer here!

[@marlonallansupetran7120]

Tanks are looking great!

[@FishShopMatt]

Thanks 👍

[@perthsteve5032]

Definitely learned something here! I had no idea ammonia is only toxic above ph 7.0

[@FishShopMatt]

It's a weird little thing that a few fishkeepers don't know to be fair.

[@leahnichol6665]

Surely it depends on the level of nitrate? Not nitrate - ammonia.

[@littlemidwestrebornsdolls]

Thanks Matt. I understand a bit more about why I need to test my water 💧

[@higherresolution3511]

Another amazingly helpful video thank you Matt! I’ve got my 90cm tank doing a dark start and can’t wait (but can wait) to get some plants and fish in there. Gorgeous looking Berta you have there - Do you think one Berta in a 90cm island style would get on with CPD’s / Corys etc (any Betta friendly fish?) I know care is required for Berta tank mates I just want to do things with the best interests of those I am looking after 😊 Can’t thank you enough for making these relaxing videos - Thank You! ❤

[@miniscenesgb]

Thanks Matt, really helpful. I'm so rusty on all this stuff.

[@eatmynoobfood7461]

Great video and very informative. Why have you not 3d printed a stand yet for those tests???? 😜✌️💜 merch! 👀👀

[@GlimwoodGraphics]

Thanks Matt 😊

[@danekzahradnicek2646]

Perfect video tutorial ... thanks from Czech Republic🦐👍

[@janetaylor8635]

As always informative and very well explained. Thanks Matt

[@jenniferbock4163]

Very informative! Any chance you recommend a resource for ideal parameters for specific fish species? I’m setting up a my first planted tank and want to test the water after it cycles for a number of weeks. I’d like to put a Betta into it, maybe, but want to see what the water parameters are before settling on a species. Was hoping to get a resource to check out the ideal water for different species. Make sense? Let me know if you have any ideas; thanks for the channel - love!

[@riverhoney]

Thanks so much for this! I'm still learning to make a habit of testing my water. Always appreciate your thorough tips! off topic, I was told most everyone can grow floaters no problem, and that floating plants don't like agitation, or, too much flow..... You've got floaters there with flow, I get a sponge filter to reduce agitation and I still cannot keep floaters alive, what am I doing wrong? I might be the only one that wants them, and can't get them to stay alive haha I've even tried different types, in separate tanks, bent the hose to the filter etc.

[@tanibellsnater5791]

How did you know I needed this Matt?!?!

[@jakegallagher121]

Awesome video Matt, you're so informative. Thank you!

[@TheRealTMar]

Great video! Lovely to see your fish being interested in the syringe. Are they expecting food or anything? I don't find any NTLABS products in The Netherlands, but I use JBL drop tests and they also work very well and come with pictogram sheets. If you buy a case with assorted drop tests, there will be a durable glossy booklet explaining every JBL test and colour schemes inside. I also like that their test kits come with cuvettes instead of vials and they're easier to handle for me as they can't be readily knocked over. I've got some (possibly) autism related motor issues.

[@FishShopMatt]

They're always wanting food hahaha. I think since the brexit it's harder for UK companies to get products into Europe. But hopefully the future may make it easier.

[@TheRealTMar]

@@FishShopMatt Agreed! I love going to the UK but I don't like extensive procedures in customs. Like, before Brexit I took my last trip to the UK by Flixbus from Eindhoven to London and then a National Express to Cardiff (Mekka for Whovians). In Calais before boarding the ferry, I could just show my passport and walk on while plenty of passengers on our bus were from outside of the EU and had to fill in forms for their visa. Good times.... The year before (2017) I was on an organised bus trip to the Doctor Who Experience because it closed that year. The ladies that put this all together ended up organising three of these bus trips! I would love to go again and put up something new in Ianto's Shrine which was put up after the death of a character in Torchwood, a spin off series of Doctor Who. It's a land mark on Google Maps!

[@giggiwidit5638]

Another great video. Straight forward, and easy to follow along. Thank you !

[@FishShopMatt]

So glad you like it!

[@giggiwidit5638]

@@FishShopMatt

[@libsteerp7692]

Wondering your thoughts on TDS & phosphates.

[@lpoolck17]

Cruahed coral in youe filter is fantastic for raising pH up to a steady 7.

[@grassnake7122]

The trouble I found with nt labs test kit was all the lables have nearly washed after a couple of washes, other than that, it's a great test.

[@innieplays]

Hi Matt! I was hoping for some advice! :) We bought our 80L aquarium over a month ago, and sadly it's been a bit of mistakes made, because Pets at home told us that we only needed to wait 3 days before we added the fish...so that's what we did. We also bout some Tetra strips 6 in 1 but had no idea they didn't test for ammonia, we found that out the hard way when we suddenly woke up one day to our 6 Neons gasping at the top. :( We looked it up and changed 50% of the water straight away, and bought some ammonia strips. (This was before I even knew about the liquid test kits). Again we were still at Pets at Home... BUT then we found out about Maidenhead AQ and there is another tiny Aquatic shop in Kettering, and a whole new world was opened up to us and we found out how much work could have been avoided if we actually let the tank start cycling before adding anything...At this time our stock was 6 neons and 6 peppered corys. Then we added some shrimp, and sadly we discovered that the filter that came with our Tetra tank was not ideal for shrimp, and 3 shrimp got swallowed by the filter. 😢 We ran out and got a new filter which is now a sponge filter and we're very happy with this, we also added two sponge air pumps for even more filtration. My 'problem' right now, is that every test I am doing, and I am currently testing every day since we changed the main filter - but we kept the old one in there, MHAQ told us to keep it in there for about a month to help with the bacteria, but even with testing and water changes every single day, the Nitrite is not going down really, and neither is the Nitrate. Ammonia is 0 and PH is 7,5-8. It's been 8 from the beginning, and today it was 7,5. Nitrite seems stuck on 1.0 and Nitrate is stuck on 80. And I am doing 20-25% water change every day, for the last 4 days now. I am using the AquaCare master test kit. We have lots of plants in there, I also now put in some Red Root floater to try and help more. And we use NTlabs liquid co2 and plant boost. AquaCare bio-boost & microbe -lift extreme water conditioner. All this added per water change. My AC kit doesn't have everything, so I also use the strip from Tetra, the KH was 12 and CO2 was 4 (according to my app). We changed the filter about 1,5 weeks ago now, and before that, the nitrite/nitrate/amonia seemed to not be an issue any more, things were going well, so we added to the stock. The tank now has 10x Neons, 4x Black Phantoms babies (1x died of bladder like 24h after we bought him. 😢), 6x Peppered Cory, 6x Otos, 10x snails and supposedly 10x blue neoshrimp, but I ever only see 2-4 of them. I do not have the NTlabs 'filter starter', should I buy that? Do I need to put that in to help? Or will that make it worse? Should I just continue with the water changes every day and be patient? It just seems to me that I should see some changes on the testing...considering we are doing these water changes. We also did a 60% water change when we switched from normal gravel to soil and sand, because I realised it would be near impossible to plant my plants in gravel and I wanted the Corys to be able to dig a bit.

[@stephenlaw1782]

What you use for buffering Matt ? And how to you apply it?

[@Melody-l3p]

Great video as always, thank you Matt🙏. I struggle with high nitrates in my tap water, around 20. Can you recommend any good filter medias to help? Currently use a ponzani filter but its a bit of a faff as takes ages to fill buckets and thanks to you and MD, my aquariums are quickly multiplying 😃

[@Lilyflowergirl98]

Hello matt, on your next aquarium set up can you cover declorlorinators. My question and query is how much to add and when to add. I've found different info on the Web and I'm a little confused. I personally dose the bucket of water but should I treat the whole volume. Also if filling from a hose again treat the whole tank or for the volume of water being added. Cheers honey

[@vannared1198]

thank you. :)

[@FishShopMatt]

You're welcome!

[@slamboy66]

🤔🤔🤔Watching Matt test his water while I test my water. 🌊

[@Spearse29]

😂

[@SelbyRadabah]

Titration? Been many decades since Chem. Class for me.

[@seansmith5904]

FSM's the best, thanks for the break down. Do you know if NT Labs, has their Plant Boost, and CO2 Boost available in the states as well?

[@FishShopMatt]

Hahaha thank you so much! Not yet but send an email to BRS telling them they need to stock more products hahaha

[@remcobazuin872]

My neocaridina shrimp will generally start to slow down and become very stationary and eventually fall over when ammonia, nitrite or nitrate are off the rail. Learned that in the early years of keeping aquariums, when my maintenance regime was not very good. Always keep shrimp, they tell you somethings wrong before the fish do. Also test your water.

[@FishShopMatt]

Yeah they're a good indication. I find some people don't pick up on the minute changes that their animals display.

[@zombi3907]

Have you ever used the test strips sold by aquarium co op? I would be curious to see your review of them, if they work they make it all pretty fast, especially with a bunch of tanks. I use them to track consistency, and use the drop tests if I see changes in the parameters, but don't rely on the strips as the final word.

[@FishShopMatt]

I haven't used the aquarium co op ones but what you're doing is exactly how I would use them if I need speed. I prefer the liquid tests and don't use dip tests at all now as I got caught out a few times where the dip tests didn't warn me of an issue and then it was too late.

[@hikinguphigh]

What would your advice be? I started an african cichlid tank, i chose to do a fish in cycle, dosing seachem prime and stability every day. After a week my ammonia has spike to around 4ppm, ive read its best not to change water yet if using seachem prime as it needs ammonia to cycle but my nitrate is around 80ppm discovered my tap water has 40ppm of nitrate straight from the tap

[@jmdbpw]

how do you clean up those liquids after the test? Is it okay to just wash them away down the sink?

[@chyefun]

Dear Matt and the comment section, i wonder if this the right place to have my question asked, i have a large community tank at home and last weekend i noticed that my Betta in it that have been with me for 4months started showing signs of lethargy, and bloating became obvious on Monday, so i took him out and had him isolated, but it passed away on Tuesday afternoon. Ive tested the water parameters and they are all stable, the last i changed the 1 of the fish feed was about 2weeks ago. Hes been swimming and mixing around with the other fishes well all the while with little to no signs of aggression, but all of a sudden this happened, and hes gone, and i cant figure out what might be the issue even after googling for something that may cause his drop in health to escalate to a dead fish in such a short span. Please advise so i can be of a better caretaker moving forward. Thank you in advance for all the tips and advices.

[@Trump.Vance.Maga.24]

I'm starting my first live plant fish tank tonight. You and MD have taught me a lot. Hope all goes well. ✌🏾🐠

[@FishShopMatt]

Good luck! Super excited for you. I look forward to hearing how you get on.

[@lpoolck17]

What ppm do you normally try to keep nitrates under? I look to keep mine below 40ppm.

[@leahnichol6665]

Can someone explain the difference between carbonate hardness and general,hardness? I was thinking carbonate measures the carbon I. The water, and general hardness includes other minerals like magnesium, copper, sulphur etc. When Matt said to add shells or rocks with calcium to raise the general hardness I got confused. 🤔

[@joelohalloran200]

What happened to Phosphate Matt? This should be managed through wc and kept low, shouldn’t it?

[@maurinedoyle9964]

Bravo

[@AndreaDowns-rh5xd]

Is there ever a situation where you would have zero ammonia but high nitrite? If so, what would cause that scenario?

[@FishShopMatt]

Yeah a few different reasons, lots of ammonia being produced and then breaking down into nitrite and the filter can't handle it. I've seen it a few times I would pop some more ceramic bio media into the filter to help more bacterial growth and do a couple small water changes and lessen the feeding. Once the filter catches up with the waste and cycles it should be ok. But I have seen this a few times where the nitrite can almost just sit there.

[@AndreaDowns-rh5xd]

@@FishShopMatt thank you for such a quick reply. I haven’t even finished watching yet!

[@Ben_Eades]

If the pearl danios prefer harder water, why keep them with a betta which prefer softer? Why not use some rasboras species instead?

[@FishShopMatt]

My bad on wording when I say harder water they prefer medium and my water round here is generally very soft. So what I meant was harder than my water that comes out my tap. But with tank bred Bettas nowadays they can and are bred in higher PHs in some of the breeders I've spoken to. Once a fish is domesticated as much as the Bettas they are more tolerant.

[@0waverunner0]

How are the strips from api? Accurate at all?

[@FishShopMatt]

I've used strips before in my shop days and they give you an idea of what's going on but personally aren't worth it. I've not yet found a super reliable dip test that I would trust 100%

[@0waverunner0]

@@FishShopMatt kinda what I was thinking. That's a bummer. Would make things much less error prone! Thanks for the reply!

[@mrmas2535]

the habistax tank grew in well. its a shame the kickstarted didnt get funded.

[@Chompchompyerded]

At what level does Nitrite become Nitwrong?

[@FishShopMatt]

Hahahaha anything above zero is nitwrong.

[@trevsweb]

my GH tests always take loads of drops even fresh water. how do i lower the gh without RO water :S London tap water is harrrd

[@zombi3907]

I have similar hardness and high TDS in my tap water. I use an auto top off reservoir and mix RO water with my tap water 50-50. I get a couple five gallon jugs of it from my local fish store, but I worry about it only on a 20 gallon planted tank.

[@FishShopMatt]

To be honest using RO is the best and safest option. Mix it with tap water and work how much you need to mix in. It maybe a 50/50 mix or 75/25 you just need to mix some up and test it to see how much your tap water needs.

[@Pepperwinkle]

WE BACK

[@FishShopMatt]

We are indeed!

[@peaoat3608]

Father FIsh claims that high nitrates are not to be worried about because in a natural setting you would have to try very hard to bring nitrate level to deadly. Father fish also said you can use tap water without doing anything to it, so there is also that...

[@fluxant]

Id stop watching father fish

[@TheRealTMar]

As for tap water, it really depends. If you live in The Netherlands, chlorine isn't added to any tap water here so, generally, it is always safe to use. But in any other country, this may be a different matter. Also, we can check comprehensive water reports online with the tap water company. My tap water is provided by Vitens, source: Groenekan. I can download their test reports whenever, wherever. The figures are from a certain period though and if I want to know exactly what comes out of my tap, I should test my tap water. Generally I don't need to since the hardness and pH are fairly consistent.

[@FishShopMatt]

Nitrates aren't always a problem and as I say in the video they can be high and the fish still be fine. The problem I find is it makes everything a little harder, fish can be more prone to sickness, algae grows better and more delicate fish will not tolerate it at all. Yes you find nitrate naturally occuring in rivers but the health of the fish living in it could be anything for all we know. As for doing nothing with tap water it's a majorly dangerous statement to put out there. I know parts of the UK that you could get away with that in, as mentioned above the Netherlands have nothing added to their water. So in answer yes you may not need to do much to your water, but as with every video I make it depends where you're from and your situation. Making statements like that can cause more harm than good. Fishkeeping is not a one size fits all, it's finding what is best and safest for you and your fish and sticking with that.

[@Lilyflowergirl98]

Water quality differs hugely in different areas of the UK. We moved from Peterborough to spalding 6 years ago and that's only a matter of 15 or so miles but the difference is huge. You can smell the chlorine in the water here. Can't drink the tap water like we used to, it's always filtered. Ph is about the same though and that's about 7.5

[@Knights.of.Ni.]

Sometimes I see on Facebook groups I'm in people not using the correct amount of water in the tubes.

[@FishShopMatt]

It can mess with the testing so much

[@stephencox6012]

So the best thing to do is test your water 1st. So that gives you a base level.

[@jtkeepingfish]

Testing 1,2 lol

[@Lilyflowergirl98]

Blimey my GH is 36, mind you my tetra tank has been running 2 years with happy fish lol. My water here is so hard but my guppies breed like rabbits

[@saltykraken9471]

My water sucks so i have to start using RODI water and testing water. Yay. 😑

[@mildredpadilla5734]

Woohoo🎉#1❤❤❤❤ have a great day

[@FishShopMatt]

Have a great day too! 💜

[@clivehughes2179]

very interesting and informative but can I really be bothered with all this-everything seems to survive with much simpler tests

[@richardgutierrez9223]

I’m not sure who these videos are for. Don’t get me wrong Matt. I’m sure there’s people out there that need these tutorials but as far as I can tell a lot of us here are very experienced fish keepers and aquascapers so maybe we could see some content aimed at people that have already been in the hobby.

[@FishShopMatt]

I try to vary my content as much as possible, but I really want to make sure the new people coming into the hobby are served with decent info. In my shop years the biggest time for people to quit out of the hobby was from an issue in the first few months. That being said I want to do more elaborate stuff too, I have a list as long as my arm of videos for new and seasoned fishkeepers. But please let me know what sort of videos you would like to see and I'll add them to my list.

[@GenXHeart]

ARE you kidding?! We rookies NEED Matt and his way of making information understandable! I have been waiting a long time for this video!

[@ReneeMPTeate]

Yes, many of us are new to the hobby, and also I'm sure Matt wants to attract as many people as possible to the channel, plus produce videos that can serve as a reference people can find when searching for topics like this later. I appreciate the info!

[@richardgutierrez9223]

@@FishShopMatt yeah that’s fair mate, I guess there’s not a lot of content out there covering what you are for the newbies ect , I have been loving the pond content also, I think I’m just over excited to see you build up that garage into a gallery / fish room

[@dforgash]

Sub and show your support!! You know he’s earned it ❤

[@saragreen1314]

I'm just awaiting the arrival of my 1st aquarium, only a small one to begin with to see how I get on with 🫤 thank you for all your videos, they've been invaluable to me as a very nervous newbie, I love your explanations, even I understand them 😊