My First Sub-Tropical Tank...

[BlueDragon]

Hi : )

I'm not in Durham, I'm in Consett. It's not that far away, about half an hour I think.

 

[OldMan47]

Ammonia and nitrites are to be kept at the minimum practical. No way I would ever suggest that you do anything to raise them. The upper limit is 0.25 ppm for our standards of care here on TFF. I am sorry if you got another idea from what I said here.
My interpretations of what you said about your pH led me to suggest particular fish. I am sure that we have plenty of fish keepers here that know more about low pH/low mineral content water in terms of good stocking ideas than I do. My own water is hard as nails and rather high in pH so I am far more familiar than many others on that set of conditions.

 

[BlueDragon]

It's OK, you shouldn't appologize : )

I'm still not sure what 25 means of it doesn't mean 25 but I'm guessing that I should be paying attention to that zero instead?

In my care sheets that I printed out I'm sure it says the PH is OK for the Fish I have, but I might have got it all wrong. To be honest I'm sure now that I've got most things wrong and somehow I've still understood it : /

 

[Judgejudy]

It's OK, you shouldn't appologize : )

I'm still not sure what 25 means of it doesn't mean 25 but I'm guessing that I should be paying attention to that zero instead?

In my care sheets that I printed out I'm sure it says the PH is OK for the Fish I have, but I might have got it all wrong. To be honest I'm sure now that I've got most things wrong and somehow I've still understood it : /

Yes you should be paying attention to the zero.

 

[BlueDragon]

You mean I got something right???

Wow! O_O

Thanks X )

 

[OldMan47]

If you aim for zero in ammonia and nitrites you are definitely on the right track. I was simply trying to give a worst case limit that would guide you, not a desired value by any means. The pH should ideally be left as is, with no chemical treatment to move it. That will mean that we will be able to help you stock your tank once the cycle completes.

 

[BlueDragon]

Well, the test results are showing no changes right now, but I'm not sure that's a good thing : /

I was planning on just leaving things alone and seeing what happened, I didn't know you could safely change the PH without upsetting the Fish? Is it not by putting chemicals in the water?

 

[OldMan47]

You cannot safely change the pH using chemicals. It is not unsafe to do it once, but how do you get back to that value of both pH and mineral content again with every water change, before adding your new water? Most guidance on pH has really nothing to do with pH. pH is very easy to measure so it gets measured. Surface water high in minerals tends to run at a high pH while water low in minerals tends to run a lower pH. It has nothing to do with the mineral content except that high mineral surface water often comes from places with rocky creek bottoms. That water tends to dissolve a bit of the rock, which is almost always a pH raising mineral. When you keep fish reputed to favor a low pH, chances are they come from a place with muddy bottoms or even covered with leaf litter. That water will be low in minerals because there was no rock to dissolve into the water and the leaf litter tends to reduce pH too. Now you get you tap water from who knows what source and it is high in pH. It probably has more minerals than low pH fish favor. OK, so you drop that pH by adding a weak acid, the typical pH lowering chemical. Where do you end up. You have just made things worse by adding even more minerals, in the form of those acids, to your water. The end result for a low pH fish is further stress by asking them to live in water with even more minerals than is good for them. Stop messing about with pH and use water changes to keep your tank water pristine. The fish will almost always thrive with that treatment.
If you actually want to keep fish that are very sensitive to mineral content you can achieve that by mixing rain or RO water with tap water but it means you need to do the same mix for every water change. I do that in one tank where I am trying to breed some cories but that tank takes more effort at water change time than any 5 other tanks combined.

 

[BlueDragon]

"Stop messing about with pH and use water changes to keep your tank water pristine. The fish will almost always thrive with that treatment."

I haven't been doing anything to change the PH that I'm aware of. All I've been using is a water treater to neutralize chlorine etc and a liquid bacteria treater.

I do live very high up. I always say I live on the edge of the middle of nowhere, it's actually a massive Nature Reserve. I'm surounded by hills and moors, but I'm as high as they are if not even a bit higher. So that would explain the low minerals in the water?

I was actually planning on using a mineral supliment at first, but reading up on it I desided not to.

Thanks for all that info on PH. I am sticking to the water changes and I won't start using a mineral supliment unless there's a need to. Don't worry : )

 

[Tonyb111111]

"Stop messing about with pH and use water changes to keep your tank water pristine. The fish will almost always thrive with that treatment."

I haven't been doing anything to change the PH that I'm aware of. All I've been using is a water treater to neutralize chlorine etc and a liquid bacteria treater.

I do live very high up. I always say I live on the edge of the middle of nowhere, it's actually a massive Nature Reserve. I'm surounded by hills and moors, but I'm as high as they are if not even a bit higher. So that would explain the low minerals in the water?

I was actually planning on using a mineral supliment at first, but reading up on it I desided not to.

Thanks for all that info on PH. I am sticking to the water changes and I won't start using a mineral supliment unless there's a need to. Don't worry : )

Vitamin & mineral supplements are fine to use. There is some disagreement amongst hobbyists about the benefits of adding these, but I do not believe they do any harm in the slightest, it is more a case of unnecessary expense rather than I'll side effects. I add them religiously every week, due mainly to the fact I use a lot of RO water. I could be wrong here, but I believe they contain some minerals that are not found in many tap waters as well

 

[BlueDragon]

So it could be an idea to try if I think the Fish would benefit from it?

I'm just so focused on getting the water right right now that everything else has become second thought. But in the long run I might reconsider it if it's agreed that my water is particularly low in minerals.

What's the best way to tell what you have/don't have in your water mineral wise?

 

[OldMan47]

You could use a simple tester like I have to test for TDS. That will at least give you some indication of the total dissolved solids that you are facing. If you have a TDS reading, you have most of what it takes to control your dissolved solids number. You then treat any change at all as an addition to those amounts. Almost anything we add to reduce hardness or pH will add to that reading you have.

 

[BlueDragon]

OK, thanks. I'll look into it : )