well ive been writing on here for awhile and the last post i had was about hith and my water test. i was told when i was on here that there is NOWAY an established tank could read o nitrite, o nitrate, o ammonia and only have the ph change on occasion, for those who thought they knew all, you were wrong it is possible i have now taken my water to every fish store in town and they all had the same reading !! and they all told me that what ever i am doing is very good cause my water is perfect!!!it is possible,now that i have tryed to take advice from pepole on here, i will not do that again. it is nice to hear the advice but thats all! i have worryed for months that something was wrong with my tank because of what i was told on here and now i am relieved to know that there never was anything wrong.and that is coming from 15 different fish stores.

twinkletoes wrote:
i am not sure but i believe you misread the post. an establish tank could never have 0 nitrate, but could attain zero ammonia and nitrite which is the ideal. any fraction of ammonia and nitrite is prone to problem.
i am sorry if you feel that way. but i believe all members who had responded on your post have one thing in mind... that is to help you.
i do not want to refute the local fish store's findings. but in most cases, lfs give different information on water parameters. there are times they will tell you your water is fine and all of a sudden, all your fish were gone.... why? because tey never did test your water. in some occasion, they will tell you your water is bad even if it good, so that they can sell you every stuff they have which are nopt needed at all.

the choice is yours. i am sorry you feel it that way.

Okay after receiving your e-mail I was intrigued to find your posts. I'm a little dismayed that you have chosen to ignore all the advice that you have been given on this website. I have been keeping fish for a number of years now, Oscars for all of that time and I agree with what has been said about nitrate. Unless you are testing your water directly after a very large water change, it's virtually impossible to have a nitrate reading of zero. I would suggest that you get your own water test, rather than taking it to the fish store. If you don't understand water chemistry, all the information can be found on the website.

You initially came on here with questions about various diseases that your fish had developed. Straightaway that tells us that your water conditions are poor, fish don't normally develop diseases in good water. I've looked through a lot of the replies to your posts and I can't see any advice that could possibly cause your fish to die, as stated in your e-mail to me. We've tried to help you as much as we can, the advice given is sound and correct.

twinkletoes wrote:


its not a question of someone being right or wrong when they say you cant have a nitrate reading of zero. its science. science tell us that fish produce waste in the form of ammonia. it also tells us that the beneficial bacteria in your filter converts the ammonia to nitrites. afterwards different bacteria in your filter converts the nitrires into nitrates. there is nothing that removes nitrates from your system other than water changes. so if you have, like you stated, a nitrate reading of zero then you dont have the nitrifying bacteria that produces it and therefore your tank is not properly cycled. this isnt my opinion, its science. i, like other on this site, have nothing to gain by telling you this. we are not trying to sell you a product to help your situation, we are just giving advise from years of experience that we have to help you in keeping your fish healthy and happy. the best thing you can do is get your own testing kit and do your own testing. the instruction for this is simplistic and will tell you what we are.

if your system is properly cycled you will have a nitrate reading. bottom line.

Keyword: established

well if you had read the whole thing my fish came to me with hith and ick, i had been trying to fix it the whole time i had him. also i had been doing my water checks with api the tube kind as directed specifically and my water even after 1yr of set up and being established always read the same never done directly after a water change! i did alway use a product called prime when changed my water,due to my city water being so high in everything., so i had to go to the pet store around town and ask them to check for me to see if they came up with something different, but they did not, i had been following inst and advice from the fellow readers and as i changed things so slowely things got worse he was happy as it had been, then when i was told to try feeding him bugs he got a parasite from them and after all said and done he died last nite!!! i got him when he was only 1 1/2" big and he grew to 9" total he starved to death because he had a parasite in him and there was nothing left i could do. it was the bugs that gave it to him. i had gotten everything under control so it seemed. anyway i have spoke to fish people on the phone all over the world and the water can read as it did my ph could have been 1deg. more or so but it was also fine. good luck in your adventures with the fish i no longer have one!!!!!

I am sorry that your fish died but holding us responsible for its death is not fair. All we have done is to try and help you.

I have to say there is quite difficult to follow what you have written and I don't understand some of it.. How do you know that your fish got a parasite from a bug? Even if it did, is that our fault because somebody suggested that insects may be good for your fish?

We have tried to help as much as we can. I'm sorry if that isn't enough

sorry if i sound so harsh i loved my fish it hurts me that he is gone they become like a kid and with all the time and money i spent into him, and watching him change and grow, i really took the advice from to heart cause i wanted him to get better and stay there. there are many bugs that naturally carey a parasite that is bad for fish including the oscar,be selective on the bugs you feed. and no its not anybody fault except the fish store for selling me a sick fish to begin with. thanks for the input!!!

hi twinkletoes, thank you for responding through the forum.
i believe all moderators will feel relieved on this.

i don't know if this will help to lighten up your feelings,
but you should know that "knowing someone out there had lost
his/her fish make us feel sorry too".