Starting my Cycle

That's good. On the pH, this will lower as the GH/KH lowers but the latter are still significant enough to have some buffering effect. As the organics accumulate in the aquarium from fish and feeding, it may push this down sooner, but it all depends upon the GH/KH. The GH is the important parameter for fish, and once that is down for "x" fish species the fish will have less trouble over the pH provided it is not fluctuating around (it shouldn't be).

matthew xia said:

An update for those following...

I've just done a 100% water change using 50% RO water and 50% tap water. New water test results:

Kh - 80ppm (previously 201)
Gh - 180ppm (previously 274)
Ph - 7.6 (I hoped this would be a little lower)
Nitrite - 0ppm
Nitrate - 10ppm (there was 31.7 in the tap water at source)
Ammonia - 0.15 (possibly from me disturbing the gravel?? It was zero the last few days...)

(I've also added moss balls, some wood, an Indian almond leaf, a Betta Hammock, and have two more plants on order - java fern and a Cryptocoryne beckettii 'Petchii' on Lava Stone).

How's this all looking fish fans?
@Byron @essjay @Deanasue @Libbyd @PheonixKingZ ??

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Looking good!

Oh the joy! Thanks all for your help (now to get the fish / ensure it remains happy / keep it alive)

My local Maidenhead aquatics is open and selling fish ! Have you got anywhere near you open yet? I guess London might be a bit more locked down but things look to be cautiously opening up now.

Hi Libby - sorry about the delay... we have a fish! Our LFS started opening for three hours a day and selling livestock by appointment so we booked in a couple of weeks back. I’ve been kept busy with work / home (which of course are all the same thing at the moment) - and now also water changes! Hurrah. My daughter is so happy to finally have her pet. His name is Albus Bubbledore and he has two zebra nerite snails to keep him company and the tank clean (although they are full on poop machines). We’ve got a couple of almond leaves in there and all the water changes are done with RO / tap water. He seems happy in there. Although he refuses to eat daphnia! (We even tried only offering him that for 3 days) - but loves pellets and frozen blood worms.

Is he building g a bubble nest? If so, he must be happy. Very pretty betta.

He's lovely. Glad to hear you finally managed to get a fish

Beautiful.

He built a bubble nest pretty much as soon as he arrived... I annoyingly destroy it (accidentally) with some of the water changes... But he rebuilds.

I want to thank you all so much for your help and guidance with getting the water right for Albus and his tank mates. I'm sure I'll have many more questions as we continue fish keeping.

matthew xia said:

I want to thank you all so much for your help and guidance with getting the water right for Albus and his tank mates. I'm sure I'll have many more questions as we continue fish keeping.

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We’re always here.

Awww love him! So pleased it’s worked out - worth it in the end