Kurt

Greetings all!

I received an old, hand-me-down 20 gallon tank from a friend. I have no previous experience with aquariums. So, I used some tips and suggestions from this site to start it. I checked the seals and gradually filled it to locate any leaks. Everything checked fine. So, I placed the gravel, a castle decoration, some fake plants, and treated tap water. Then I installed my heater, filter and airpumps/stones. Let the baby run for a few days and checked the water: pH 8.1, ammonia 0.125, nitrate 5, nitrite 1.5.

Things looked okay, so I dropped in five zebra danios. They’ve been active and fun to watch. I’ve done a 12-15% water change after four days with the fish and checked the water: PH 8.1, Ammonia 0.25, Nitrate 7, Nitrite 1.0. After three more days and I tested my water today: PH 8.1, Ammonia 0.25, Nitrate 5, Nitrite 1.5. I took some water to Petsmart and had it tested as well: PH 8.4, Ammonia 0.5, Nitrate 0, Nitrite 1.0, alkalinity 300, Hardness 150, Chrlorine/Chrloramine 0.

So, things seem to be okay. I’ve tested the water daily and even after a week I can see the Nitrate/Nitrite/Ammonia levels do their thing; but, I’m a wee bit concerned about the PH. After cycling the tank for the next few weeks, I’m hoping to gradually flesh out my tank to be: 6 Neon Tetras, a betta, an Oto Catfish, and either a couple Black Neon Tetras or a couple Cardinal Tetras.

My fear is that the fish that we’d like prefer water of a lower pH. I’m also a little frustrated that the straight tapwater shows a pH of 7.8 to 7.9. So, I’ve read some suggestions about bogwood and filtering the water over peat to lower it. I’ve also read that fish can adapt to a higher; but, stabile pH. Is there something wrong in the tank setup to raise the pH? So, should I sweat it or are things cool?

Kevin

i would def. try to get it down to the 7.5- range

lilsoccakid

alright, here we go lol...

first, im glad to hear that u are checking the cycle, but make sure u watch really close if ur adding fish. dont add any more fish until the cycle is complete. I would look for an item called Prime, which binds up ammonia and nitrites to keep ur fish safe during the cycle.

2nd, make sure u follow the 1 gallon of water for every inch of fish. So 5 zebra danios will equal 10 gallons of water when full grown. Also, make sure u check to see if fish are compatible, and i wouldnt recommend a betta in that tank, its fins would be nipped off.

3rd. with all of the advancments in fish breeding, many domestically bred fish can adapt to big changes in PH, just make sure u accimilate them slowly. Open the bag when u get them home and let it sit on top of the tank to get the temps to be the same, then add one cup of ur tank water to their bag every 10 minutes, until its about 90% of ur tank water in the bag, then net the fish and put them in the tank WITHOUT adding the pet store water to avoid outbreaks in disease.

i hope this has helped!

Kurt

Greetings lilsoccakid!

I appreciate the comments. I planned on returning the zebras once the tank cycled so it shouldn't impact the density of the neighborhood. Do you think the tetras would nip up the betta too? Should I bother looking into peat or see what happens with some fish after the cycle?

Kevin

i wouldn't keep tetras w/ a betta
snails, oto cats and cory cats are the only fish that are okay to keep w/ a betta in a 10 gal. tank

lilsoccakid

i would suggest going with a very slow accimilation proccess. they do sell products that will keep the water at a certain ph, but i wouldnt suggest them, as they can be very bad for your fish. i would just ad very small amounts of ur tank water to the bad, until its almost all of ur tank water. i hope this helps!

Butterfly

With slow acclimation just about any fish will adjust and do fine. I too discourage the different chemicals available to change the ph. They tend to make the ph fluctuate a good bit. A stable although not ideal ph is less stressful than one that fluctuates.
carol

Kurt

Rock on! I didn't want to get involved in artificial chemicals and such. I'll exihbit some patience and give it a go. Much thanks.

Butterfly

Good for you. Patience really does pay off.
Carol

COBettaCouple

those pH altering products don't seem to work much in hard water. when we first got started and hadn't found fishlore, we tried to get the magic 7.0 pH but nothing altered the pH due to the local water hardness.

the only thing we concern ourselves with now as far as pH goes is to keep it stable. usually that can be accomplished by using the same source for water.

are you testing with strips or a liquid testing kit?

Kurt

Greetings COBettaCouple!

I'm testing with Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Freshwater Master Test Kit which is liquid. When Petsmart was testing my water they used paper strips though.

According to my aquarium tests, the pH has stayed stabile at 8.1. So, I'm not concerned about the stability yet; but, I was curious if I should pursue putting some boiled peat in my filter to try lowering it a bit. If, as lilsoccakid pointed out, my fish can adapt to the higher pH, then I've no real worries...yet.

bmxer193

Hes right but i would still give them a try i use PH tablets made by jungle and they work great BUT my water isnt as hard as yours

COBettaCouple

that's the best kit to use.

we've had pH of 7.6 to 7.8 and never had any pH issues since it's been stable and we've gotten all our fish locally so they were used to the local pH already.

a more natural way of lower pH, like peat, is way better than chemical methods, just lower the pH slowly then maintain the stability and the fish should be happy.

Kevin

don't tannins from driftwood help keep the ph low?

Bonochick

My pH is an 8.0, but it's been stable. My fish have had no problems. I thought about trying to lower it, but I figured if everything is going smoothly, why mess with it?

Kurt

Just a small update to my original post.

I've kept five zebras in the tank and they helped cycle the tank within a month. I've since had a 55-gallon tank gifted to me and I'm going to get that baby started up too. If anyone has any interest in seeing an occasional update of my fish (and family), feel free to take a look:

http://www.reonis.com/wp

Have fun!