Finished Cycling, But...?

[VanillaShake112]

I finished cycling and I added my first three fish, male guppies Saturday. I did my testing and here is what they read. Are they good?

Freshwater High Range pH 8.2

Freshwater pH 7.6

Nitrite 0 ppm

Nitrate The color read somwhere between 5.0 and 10

 

[piranha_tim]

What should Ph be? I am high jacking this post a little ...

To me it looks ok but not should about your ph levels. Mine have been a solid 7.6

 

[rocknurworld2006]

whats ur ammonia level??

and what is your [ph 7.6 or 8.2??

 

[piranha_tim]

He/She just has a high and low test ...

the low max = 7.6 its actually 8.2 which I am not sure is great but ...

 

[rocknurworld2006]

7.6 and 8.2 is a huge difference and no fish should be kept in 8.2apart from something like malawis!!!!

 

[@ombomb]

7.6 and 8.2 is a huge difference and no fish should be kept in 8.2apart from something like malawis!!!!

that's simply not true

most fish will live in that range healthy, guppies should thrive in it

the problem most fish have is a PH swing, if they're used to it, they'll be fine with it

 

[VanillaShake112]

I use the API Fresh water Master Test Kit and it had two pH tests. One just says High Range pH and the other just says pH. Sorry about that.

 

[[email protected]]

Test it again using only the test kit that says PH. Then repost what the PH is. @ombomb is correct though, your guppies should be ok with that PH assuming that you tested it correctly and the PH doesnt fluctuate to much. Your Nitrate is a little to high for Poecilia reticulata IMHO. I would let it cycle a little more and repost your water peramiters (SP?).

 

[gaz gun man]

your Nitrates are fine, mine usually reads 40ppm.
My tapwater alone reads 10ppm!
Only need to worry if it gets near 100ppm.

Check your Ammonia too, that should read 0, as should your Nitrites.

Did you get an actual match for 7.6 on your PH or did it go off the scale?
If it went off the scale then your PH is 8.2

 

[Corleone]

I agree with gaz, nitrates are fine. Even after water changes, I usually don't get a reading that low.

Besides, letting the cycle go longer won't help nitrates, as they're the final product of the cycle, and aren't removed by it. If anything, taking your cycle further once ammonia and nitrite is processing to 0 as normal will just add more nitrates which will just mean a water change down the road.

 

[gaz gun man]

letting your cycle carry on after 'officially' finishing is a good idea anyway, as it gives the bacteria time to stabilize.

it's reccomended to do a big waterchange anyway after you've finished cycling to remove what could be high levels of Nitrate, I changed 70%

 

[rocknurworld2006]

5-10 nitrate is fine