Newbie with PH Issues

5 gallon 1 Beta

Have API Master Test kit. I have watched my waters & tested it so I have gone through Cycling from what I understand.
No chemicals everything naturally with multiple water changes from Day 1.

tap water is a higher PH than ideal but have filtered some of the water to mix with tap to get ideal PH conditions. Over a few short days it goes back up to 8.2 or so levels.
All my readings are at 0(except my ph) .

Question #1 - Should my nitrates (n03) be reading at a zero? I'm aware to shake all my bottles and the ApI test kit is new. Was reading before some N03 before cycling.

I have started (24 hours ago) adding Peat by Fluval in a media bag (apx 1/4 cup) and placed it in front of my filter (marina s10) .

slight .2 change in ph going from 8.2 to 8.0 in 24 hours.

Question #2 -Do I have enough peat , does it take several days to show improvements?

 

I don't have time to post a full reply right now but this post will bump it for someone else who does.

PH of 8.2 is fine for a betta and I wouldn't bother changing it. A stable PH is significantly more important than a certain level so I would just leave it as it is.

You shouldn't be reading 0 nitrates in a cycled tank, no. You say no chemicals, are you using a water conditioner when doing water changes ?

 

Like Mark said above, if your reading 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and 0 nitrates it means your tank isn't cycling, are you trying to cycle the tank without fish? If so then you need a ammonia source.

As Mark said above also you need to at least use a water conditioner to dechlorinate the water.

 

I am using water conditioner. And previously had nitrates and ammonia the water went cloudy etc, my filters haven't been changed slightly greenish looking. I want to add other fish other than the betta .

 

I am using water conditioner. And previously had nitrates and ammonia the water went cloudy etc, my filters haven't been changed slightly greenish looking. I want to add other fish other than the betta .

I would perhaps retest the nitrates I had a problem with mines yesterday reading 0 turned out my wife didn't beat the bottle hard enough, apparently with the second bottle you need to beat it up quite a bit to get the crystals to release, perhaps shaking it wasn't enough, but if you did beat it off a table etc and still reading 0 I would say that you tank cycle has stalled.

Did you add tetra safe start or something similar when you added the fish? Or did you just add water, conditioner and then put the fish in?

 

I have tried beating the bottle lots because I have read that is a common issue. Very odd that I did have them then it just stopped. at the start I did add in nutrafin cycle for the first 3 days.

What should I do to get things going again or where they should be?

My poor betta has gone through this cycling stuff now. As I wasn't aware how much work was involved when I got him and seems not as happy as when he was first put into my tank. I would have done it fish less if I had known from the get go.

 

I have tried beating the bottle lots because I have read that is a common issue. Very odd that I did have them then it just stopped. at the start I did add in nutrafin cycle for the first 3 days.

What should I do to get things going again or where they should be?

My poor betta has gone through this cycling stuff now. As I wasn't aware how much work was involved when I got him and seems not as happy as when he was first put into my tank. I would have done it fish less if I had known from the get go.

I'm not to sure what nutrafin cycle is and how's it's meant to be used to be honest someone with a bit more experience will need to come in on this.

If it's nothing like Tetra Safe Start which is good bacteria in a bottle that you add to the tank and then in 14 days your tank is meant to be cycled then I would suggest grabbing a bottle of that or something similar but I would wait for someone who has experience with nutrafin cycle pipes in

 

don't worry about the pH (coming from someone who has a pH from 7.6-8.2 or higher pretty often) As long as it is steady it will be fine (as in not huge wild changes over night) . I have kH issues that cause my pH to fall but I have gotten that okay now. The other day I tested my pH and it was skyhigh (like more so than usual which was odd but considering I use the seachem buffer and also was planning on refreshing my coral was not completely unexpected! I did a water change, refreshed coral, and fish seemed fine (I was due a water change anyway) so all is okay now. But mine usually stays around 8 or so. And fish seem fine.

I would be more worried about the cycling. How long has your tank been set up? I have had both mine set up for months now and STILL have issues with cycling. Hopefully others will come in and help you out as well (since I find water changes and testing are my only avenues with cycling). I have smaller tanks as well. A betta in a 5 gallon and a few fish in my 10 gallon.

Good luck you came to the right place!

 

Nutrafin cycle I believe is similar with bacterias. Maybe I need to try adding some again?

I've had it set up for at least a month now

 

What is the usage direction? Does it say how long your meant to keep adding it or is it like tetra safe start where you just add the whole bottle and then don't test for 2 weeks?

 

New aquarium
Day 1-25ml / 10 gal
Day 2 -10ml
Day 3 -10ml

Hummm
Also says water changes 5 ml. Or when adding new fish. Or even weekly?!

Maybe there is where I messed up

Should u be adding this too every water change I do?

I assumed it was just to start things .

 

Perhaps not to sure if I'm totally honest I hope someone that has had experience with the product can step in here and help you out, if it's telling you to do daily water changes then I'm "guessing" you would need to add it daily :/

As I have no experience with it
I can't honestly say to be honest, hold off and see if someone else can help you out. If not then perhaps go and grab some tetra safe start plus instead if you can and add that, then wait 2 weeks and then test your water.

But hopefully someone can chime in who has experience with this product.

 

If I do it with tetra start . Is it a one time thing. Can I have my betta in the tank ?

 

Welcome to FishLore!

Nutrifin Cycle has a pretty bad reputation around here. Apparently the bacteria is a short live form of the bacteria that dies off after a week or so. So you add the Cycle, it is busy converting ammonia into nitrite and nitrite into nitrates for about a week, then dies off, leaving you with no bacteria to covert ammonia. But the worst part is that while it is still alive, it is preventing the naturally forming, self sustaining bacteria that you really want from developing.

So I would recommend either:

1) Just doing regular water changes with Prime until cycled. Since a standard dose of Prime will detox up to 1ppm of ammonia for 24 hours I would say to just add enough Prime to the tank to treat the entire volume of the tank daily, and as ammonia approaches 1ppm do a 50% water change. Just keep this up until cycled

2) Grab a bottle of Tetra SafeStart+. If you do this, do a partial water change to get your ammonia level down. Wait 24 hour, add an entire, well shaken, appropriate sized bottle of SafeStart+. The do nothing but lightly feed your fish for the next 14 days (don't add any products, perform any water changes...nothing). On day 14 test and if all worked correctly, congratulations will be in order!

best fo luck!

 

Thank you for the response .

So I should ditch nutrafin entirely ? I have Nutrafin Aqua Plus Tap Water Conditioner . Am I safe to assume to use Prime instead with my water changes?

I will grab a bottle of Tetra today to start this process off.

Thank you

 

Were it me, I would scrap the Nutrifin Cycle. Nutrifin Aqua Plus will remove chlorine, chloramines and heavy metals from your tap water, as will Prime. But Prime also has the abilty to detox ammonia and nitrites where the Aqua Plus does not.

If you are going to use the Tetra SafeStart+ it will be fine to use the Aqua Safe, since you will not have a need to detox ammonia while using the SafeStart+. If you were going to cycle without SafeStart+, I would say you really need the Prime.

You really only "need" Prime when you have elevated ammonia or nitrites. But since you never know when you will have a need for Prime, most people use it as their water conditioner of choice.

 

Thank you for the response .

So I should ditch nutrafin entirely ? I have Nutrafin Aqua Plus Tap Water Conditioner . Am I safe to assume to use Prime instead with my water changes?

I will grab a bottle of Tetra today to start this process off.

Thank you

Yes grab a bottle of prime and safe start plus and ditch the others and follow the above instructions and things will be good to go

 

Correct me if i'm wrong are you referring to tetra aqua safe in combination with tetra safe start.

Or can I just use safe start in conjunction with prime for water changes.

I'm assuming from looking it up aqua safe is something like the nutrafin aqua plus but a better brand? And prime as you stated does more than both of these?

 

Correct me if i'm wrong are you referring to tetra aqua safe in combination with tetra safe start.

Or can I just use safe start in conjunction with prime for water changes.

I'm assuming from looking it up aqua safe is something like the nutrafin aqua plus but a better brand? And prime as you stated does more than both of these?

I personally use Aqua safe myself but I know a lot of people on this forum use prime so it's dealers choice.
But basically get a bottle of either Aqua safe or prime do a water change and use whichever you choose for the whole tank, wait 24 hours then add in your safe start and then it's just sit back and wait 14 days while your tank cycles and enjoy your fish

Hopefully on day 15 when you test your water you will see 0 ammonia 0 nitrites and some nitrates

 

Perfect Thank you . I had things going before But they obviously stopped. Nutrafin!!! shaking fist!! .. Glad there is a possibility its not just my error. Either way I know where to restart again.

Thanks for everyone's help . I have read soo much etc but was at a stand still.

 

Good luck and let us know how it goes

 

one more quick question . Is safe start something I will need to add from time to time ? I might have to order it on amazon. Seems none of my pet or aquarium stores carry it. They carry other tetra products but not this one. Go figure.

 

one more quick question . Is safe start something I will need to add from time to time ? I might have to order it on amazon. Seems none of my pet or aquarium stores carry it. They carry other tetra products but not this one. Go figure.

No it's a one time thing (if it works) I've personally always had it work first time, started 2 aquariums with it now and it's worked both times. But I know some people have had to use it a couple of times to get it to take.
But hopefully you will be lucky like me and have it work on first go just make sure you get the size bottle that's for your aquarium shake it well add it to the aquarium dip the bottle into your aquarium and it with water from your tank then empty it back into the tank then enjoy your first for 2'weeks on day 15 test your water

And make sure it says start up on the bottle and that it's not gone out of date. Apparently there is a monthly one as well but I've never seen it

 

Ok just figuring out what size bottle to order here. Did you stock your tank . I have read that some advise to stock the tank before the TSS . I have one Beta in my tank (though he isn't looking soo hot) should that be fine or should I have a few fish?

 

Ok just figuring out what size bottle to order here. Did you stock your tank . I have read that some advise to stock the tank before the TSS . I have one Beta in my tank (though he isn't looking soo hot) should that be fine or should I have a few fish?

Personally I did it like this on my sons 55l which is about a 16g tank I think.

Added water to tank, added tetra Aquasafe and then waited 24 hours, added tetra safe start jumped jn the car and drove to down 20 minute drive picked up 4 guppies drove home and acclimated them, gave them food every other day and then after 2 weeks my tank was cycled.
Then I added some more guppies after another week and then after 2 more weeks I added a nerite snail to help clean up stuff

I'm not to sure if your fish has the bio load to keep the bacteria alive so someone else will need to comment on that jdhef

 

That's what i'm thinking . I might need to put more fish in once I do this to keep the bacteria alive from what i've read. I don't even see him eat or poop. Though he must do something since he's still alive. lol

 

That's what i'm thinking . I might need to put more fish in once I do this to keep the bacteria alive from what i've read. I don't even see him eat or poop. Though he must do something since he's still alive. lol

I believe fish can go up to a week without eating but if he's still active etc I'm guessing he's ok a the moment.

I searched the forum and found this.


So I think you might need to add another fish or 2 but hopefully someone will chime in to help

 

That's what i'm thinking . I might need to put more fish in once I do this to keep the bacteria alive from what i've read. I don't even see him eat or poop. Though he must do something since he's still alive. lol

HI

I would NOT add another fish with your betta. It should produce enough ammonia on its own given your tank size. And there aren't any fish that would fit in this tank that would get along with your betta.

Tetra also recommends 1 fish per 10 gallon so you should be fine.

Also, once you are cycled, you will not need to keep adding TSS as the bacteria will have established itself in your tank. Prime would be all you need for water changes.

 

Betta's are best as a solitary fish...especially in a 5 gallon tank.

I've cycled 5 gallon and 6.6g tanks with a single betta using Tetra SafeStart+. The water conditioner you have right now is fine, since you're not trying to detox ammonia. But when you use that up. you might want to switch to Prime. But if for some reason the Safestart does not work, you might want to switch to water changes and Prime to get cycled. But I feel confident the TSS will work just fine.

BTW, I think the smallest bottle will treat more than 5 gallons, but it will say in the bottle. You can't overdose so do worry about getting too large a bottle.

Also as mentioned above, you need only use SafeStart once. But you do know to never change your filter media, since all your bacteria lives there...right?

EDIT: Oops el337, didn't notice a second page when I replied. If I had, you would have save me a lot of typing!

 

Betta's are best as a solitary fish...especially in a 5 gallon tank.

I've cycled 5 gallon and 6.6g tanks with a single betta using Tetra SafeStart+. The water conditioner you have right now is fine, since you're not trying to detox ammonia. But when you use that up. you might want to switch to Prime. But if for some reason the Safestart does not work, you might want to switch to water changes and Prime to get cycled. But I feel confident the TSS will work just fine.

BTW, I think the smallest bottle will treat more than 5 gallons, but it will say in the bottle. You can't overdose so do worry about getting too large a bottle.

Also as mentioned above, you need only use SafeStart once. But you do know to never change your filter media, since all your bacteria lives there...right?

EDIT: Oops @el337, didn't notice a second page when I replied. If I had, you would have save me a lot of typing!

No worries, John! Always good to get your input as well!!

 

I'm sad to report my betta has died.
I haven't cycled my tank yet as I didn't want to put him through the additional stress while I left the country for a few weeks and wasn't around to personally test my tank etc. as he was not looking good . likely from my learning curve. But thanks to you guys I will be grabbing tetra items while i'm on vacation in usa (hard to find here) and will recycle my tank once I return . keep you posted .. R.IP Tofu xoxo

 

I'm sad to report my betta has died.
I haven't cycled my tank yet as I didn't want to put him through the additional stress while I left the country for a few weeks and wasn't around to personally test my tank etc. as he was not looking good . likely from my learning curve. But thanks to you guys I will be grabbing tetra items while i'm on vacation in usa (hard to find here) and will recycle my tank once I return . keep you posted .. R.IP Tofu xoxo

Sorry to hear he didn't make it, but it happens especially if your new to the hobby and don't get the right information from the start.
Hopefully once you get back from your vacation you can sort it out and get your tank up and running properly.

Have a nice vacation

 

I'm sorry for your loss
Keep in mind flight regulations regarding how many ounces of liquid you can have.
Nothing bites like buying expensive stuff you have to toss in the trash at security :/