superman

Hi, I recently bought the API pH up product and used as directed because my ph was at 6.0 and im wanting to add like 3 fish such as angelfish, and a rubber lip pleco or rubbernose. Now its at 6.6 should this be good there is no fish in my tank now and its fresh water. I just started the tank over a month ago and its been filtering ever since and cycled as i had ammonia for a few days then went away. Will i be alright at 6.6 the pet store said there water is 7.4 and i would put the fish in shick in my tank. Also my water is free of nitrates, nitrites, and ammonia now. TY

Also i filled my tank up with water frmo watermill express please go to there website so you know what water im talking about. Let me know what you think.

Hello,
I've merged your posts since they were back to back with no response between. Don't forget about the EDIT key at the bottom of every post that you can use for corrections and or additional thoughts should there be no response. Thanks!
Ken

Nutter

The first bit of advise I can give you is DO NOT use the chemical for adjusting the PH. PH up & down chemicals can create a very unstable environment for your fish & should not be used. There are natural methods of raising the PH that will not put your fishes health at risk. You can add crushed coral or shells to the substrate. You can use limestone rocks as part of the decor or you can use crushed coral or crushed limestone in one of the filter compartments.

A Ph of 6.6 is acceptable for the fish you wish to stock for now. acclimate them slowly to the tanks water. Do this by pouring the fish & water from the transport bag into a bucket. Use some airline to siphon water from the tank into the bucket. Use some kind of clamp on the airline to get the water flow down to s very slow trickle. If your no good with a siphon or don't have a suitable clamp you canuse a cup to put a little of the tank water into the bucket with the fish. One cup every 30mins or so until the bucket is full. This takes some time but is worth the effort.

Going by the test reading in your Aquarium Info you still have ammonia in the tank. That means that it is not fully cycled yet. Angelfish should only be added to a fully cycled & matured tank as they are very sensitive to water quality.

Click the underlined words here: nitrogen cycle
Have a read of that article to get a better understanding of the nitrogen cycle & why it is so important.

superman

my ammonia is at 0, I checked it yesterday. How much is crushed coral or limestone. Also what do I do now i already put the stuff in?

Nutter

Just don't add anymore of the chemicals. After a few water changes the chemical will not be present anymoer & will present no issues for you. I don't know how much crushed coral or limestone is where you are but it will be cheap. I pay under $5 per 5lb of either.

superman

ok what should i do about adding fish. I want to rush getting fish but i rather wait and do it right.


my water also looks cloudy im going to do a water change tomorow if im alright. I hurt my ankle in basketball today so i dont know how i will walk tomorow.

superman

I just read the nitrogen cycle and see it says that cloudy water is normal and i see it says to buy a danio, but how many do i buy for the cycle. What should i do for now. I want my tank right this time.

how long does the crushed coral last and how do you use it?

aquarist48

Good morning and Welcome to Fish Lore,

I've moved your post to the More Aquarium Topics/pH section of the forum.

A link on pH that you may find helpful:
Adjusting pH in the Freshwater Aquarium - Article at The Age of Aquariums - Tropical Fish

Properly Maintaining the pH in a Freshwater Aquarium - Rate My Fish Tank

Ken

superman

My water is cloudy today and im going to do a water change and im puttin in 2 danios to get some bacteria. Is this right.

superman

What type of water should i use. Should i use tap or the water from the pet store its suppouly has no ammonia and its treated.

Shawnie

cycling with fish is going to be hard on them and you...it will also take much longer.....going fishless is best and it wont cause any harm to the danios .....

superman

i went fishless for about a month now. I had ammonia for a few days towards the begging but not i have none. All the other levels are good too. Also what water should i use. I added api ph up but i he4ard chemicals are bad to use. The tap water ph on the high range is 8.2 and the regular one is 7.6, which one do i go by?

also the tap water ammonia is 1.0. What do i do for now i am going to do a water change.

funkman262

When you say "All the other levels are good too", what exactly are they? Your ammonia and nitrite should both be zero and your nitrate should be less than twenty (preferably less than ten). As for your tap water containing ammonia, you should be adding either Prime or AmQuel+ to your when you do water changes to detoxify the ammonia.

funkman262

The way it works is you use the result that is within the range on the card. Since on the regular pH card you're getting the maximum value that's shown, the pH is likely higher than the maximum value. Therefore you need to use the high range pH tester. Since the value you get on that card is in-between the minimum and maximum values shown, you know that it's the correct value. So your pH is 8.2 as shown on the high range pH card.

superman

i have 0 ammonia 0 nitrate and 0 nitrites. How do i know if my tank is fully cycled? someone told me to use safestart from tetra but i cant find any vendors that sell it.

catfishlover123

When you have 0 ammonia, 0 nitrate and some nitrites.

The above should read:

0 ammonia, 0 nitrites and under 20 nitrates. There should be some nitrates showing. The only exception would be if there are live plants in the tank.
Ken

superman

k ill test the water now should i do a water change first and then test or do it before. Also should i use tap water to fill it back up.

superman

should i just take all the water out and use tap water and add amquel+ and start over?

funkman262

I think you mean 0 ammonia, 0 nitrite and some nitrates

superman

what do i do now since i added the api ph up.

funkman262

Nutter gave you some really good advice for:

1.) Getting the chemical out of your tank
2.) Raising your pH using natural methods
3.) Acclimating new fish to a different pH before putting them in your tank

I don't really think anything else needs to be said about that. I wish you the best of luck

superman

ok ill do a water change but what water should i use. My water out of the tap is 8.2ph i tested it today. Right now i have 0 nitrate, 0 nitrite, ph 6.4 ammonia 0.25 as of now

funkman262

Somebody, correct me if I'm wrong, but a pH of 8.2 should be fine to keep your fish in (most fish will adjust to a pH that isn't in their "ideal" range). Just use your tap water and follow the steps that Nutter stated. Your tank is also not close to completing its cycle (in fact it hasn't really even started yet). Read some threads on doing a fishless cycle and be patient. It would be best if your tank is fully cycled before you begin to add fish.

superman

Im going to add angelfish and a rubberlip pleco in my tank once its ready. im going to do a water change now. But what water should i use and if i use tap water do i add the amquel+ in the bucket? Or should i add straight ammonia in the tank. I dont know what to do if i should take all the water out and add tap water or what.

funkman262

When you say "Im going to add angelfish and a rubberlip pleco in my tank once its ready", I hope you mean after your tank has completely cycled. Is that right?

funkman262

I'm attaching a thread that you can read through to begin learning how to do a fishless cycle (and hopefully you'll take it upon yourself to search for other articles on fishless cycling to learn more). I'd recommend changing your water to the tap water and just using that for now on. Since there's no fish in there, there's no point in wasting amquel. You can add pure ammonia (no additives) to help get it started.

Adding Ammonia for Fishless Cycle - Keep Adding or Stop Once Spiked?

superman

the tap water has 1.0 ammonia in it would that be enough ammonia? also the ph is 8.2 from the tap water.

superman

yea after the tank is right. im not gonna waste like 15-20 dollars on fish to last maybe a week. I rather wait to get my tank right

funkman262

The more ammonia, the better for the bacteria to grow. It would be best to supplement the bacteria with about 4 PPM of ammonia because it would be easy to test using API's Liquid Freshwater Master test kit. You can monitor the change of ammonia as it gets consumed by the bacteria and the increase of nitrite as the ammonia was converted. I'd suggest learning more about the nitrogen cycle and searching how to do a fishless cycle.

OK that's good to hear

superman

But the tap water has chlorine will that kill the bacteria in the tank that i might have?

funkman262

Yes if your water has chlorine in your tap then you need chemicals to neutralize it as the chlorine would kill your beneficial bacteria. People don't usually use AmQuel+ for that purpose but it will remove chlorine. Just add the AmQuel+ as per directions on the bottle.