Nearly There

[stanster]

I'm now happy my cycling stage has finished and I'm ready to add some fish.

One thing worrying me is the pH has risen from around 7.2 to 7.8-8.0 depending on which colour I think its closet to on the test. (wish I still had access to a pH meter.)

No surprise really with all the base thats been added.

Guess i need to bring this down a bit, but what do you typically use ?

If I am stuck with water this side of neutral, what fish does this rule out (or in).

I'll have some questions about the filters later, but guess I need to address this first.

Thanks

 

[Essjay]

What is the pH of your tapwater, both freshly run and a glass of water that's stood for 24 hours? Most tapwater changes pH on standing. If the tank is higher than the 24 hour standing tapwater, the next question is, what substrate and decor do you have? Anything made from limestone, coral, shell etc will increase the pH and hardness.


At the end of a fishless cycle, the pH has usually dropped rather than gone up because of the nitrate that is the end point of the nitrogen cycle - there is usually a lot of nitrate at the end of a cycle.



As for lowering it, it is not a good idea to use chemicals to lower it. If the water is hard, it will buffer the water against changes and you'll end up with a yoyoing pH every time you add the chemical - a stable pH at the 'wrong' level is better than a fluctuating one. If there is some thing in the tank that's pushing the pH up, then it's easy enough to remove the culprit. Other ways to lower it slightly include using bogwood though that also has the side effect of turning the water brown.
A lot of fish will live quite happily in water with the pH you give, the only problem would be that some low pH fish can't breed in high pH. If you research your fish before you buy anything, you'll quickly find if your choice is one of the few species that must have acidic water (and usually soft water as well).

 

[stanster]

I'd guess the pH Should go down on standing due to absorption of CO2, but not by very much.

The substrate is sand on top of the earthy stuff for plants (can't remember what its called)

Theres also two medium bits of bogwood and 4/5 plants.

Might do a smallish water change, say 25%, then check again tomorrow.

Hope to get some fish in after that, probably a small shoal (5/6) of tetras.

Seems a long time since I first go the tank.

 

[Essjay]

Actually, the pH often goes up on standing! There is a lot of CO2 in tapwater and it's under pressure. It loses the CO2 on standing.

Nearly forgot - do you know what is in the "earthy stuff for plants"? And is the sand just plain sand, it's not coral sand or anything fancy like that? You could always test the plant stuff by putting some in a tub of water and testing the pH after a few days - don't forget to set up a tub of plain water at the same time for reference!

 

[stanster]

Checked pH of the tank just now,, reading between 7.6 and 7.8.
Tank water overnight was down to 7.2

So the tank now has 6 new residents, a small shoal of black neon tetra's.

Do I continue to monitor daily for the first few weeks and if all goes well how long before I can add a few more fish ?

I'm tempted to add an assassin snail to help with the snails, does this count towards the bioload ?

One other question re filters.

The tank has 2 internal filter, one carbon and one for nitrate/phosphate.
Manual says these should be changed by now, but is this just over cautious and a big sales pitch.

Now off to stare at the tank for a few hours

 

[Essjay]

You did a fishless cycle with ammonia? How much ammonia was the filter processing, that is how many ppm ammonia were you adding? If it was 5ppm, you can get most of your fish straight away, certainly within a day or two as 6 black neons won't make enough ammonia to feed all the bacteria you've just grown. If you used less ammonia than 5ppm, it depends on how much you did use.


And it is always a good idea to monitor the ammonia and nitrite levels for several days after getting fish, even with a mature tank.

 

[stanster]

Between 4 and 8 ppm.
Guess I'm ok then.
Any advice re filters.
Ill get an assassin next time I'm in the lsf.

 

[mancton]

hiya mate i had the same scenario p.h quite high after a fishless cycle. I started with 6 leopard danios left it about 2 weeks added 4 guppies and have just added 10 neon tetras and theyre all doing fine so dont think the ph level is a major problem

 

[Questions?]

if you want to lower the ph. add some driftwood(w/o soaing it) the tannins lower the ph

 

[stanster]

Between 4 and 8 ppm.
Guess I'm ok then.
Any advice re filters.
Ill get an assassin next time I'm in the lsf.

Went in to get a snail, came out with 3 x Strebai Cory.

Funny little fellas, darting all over the tank.
Thought they were mainly bottom swimmers

 

[dannybgoode]

Between 4 and 8 ppm.
Guess I'm ok then.
Any advice re filters.
Ill get an assassin next time I'm in the lsf.

Went in to get a snail, came out with 3 x Strebai Cory.

Funny little fellas, darting all over the tank.
Thought they were mainly bottom swimmers

Sterbais are awesome fish, you're right they are brilliant to watch. And, whilst 3 is just about ok they thrive much better in groups of 6 or more - I have 6 currently but am going to up that to 9 or 11 shortly...

Cheers

Danny B

 

[stanster]

I intend to go up to 6, just building up the stock slowly (2 lots in 2 days )

 

[Essjay]

As I said above, if you cycled with 5ppm ammonia you need to get almost all your fish within a couple of days or the bacteria will die off as only a few fish can't provide them with enough food. Cycling with 5ppm was chosen to grow more bacteria than a tank full of fish need to deal with their waste, so that a tankful of fish can be put in as soon as the cycle finishes.
If you cycled with less than 5ppm, how much did you use?

 

[stanster]

As above, between 4 and 8.
Thats all the colour chart gave me on the test kit.

Hadn't realised I needed to stock so quickly.

Guess I'll add another 3 Corys tomorrow and maybe some harlequins.

Still undecided on the show fish in the tank.

Was hoping for Rams but from what I've read the water I have may not suit them.

If I add more fish at a later date, guess I'll need to monitor ammonia/nitrite levels and do water changes if needed ?

 

[Essjay]

Rams (blue, german blue, gold, electric blue etc, all the same species) do need soft acidic water and a higher temperature than most fish can take. But bolivian rams are a different species, can live in harder, more alkaline water than rams, and need the same temps as most other community fish. Why not take a look at those.

Yes, if you leave it more than a few days to get the rest of your fish, then add further fish a few at a time and check your levels for a few days after - in fact follow the stocking instructions for fish-in cycling.