Newbie Question

[OldMan47]

The pH of water will rise after it comes out of the tap because CO2 dissolved in the water will come out of solution. The pH will not rise as much as has been reported here unless there is something in the tank forcing the pH to rise. Wood will not raise pH although some will lower it more than others. The first place to look would be the substrate, whether it is sand or gravel. Take a sample of your gravel and put it in a sample of tap water and draw another sample of tap water. Let both stand for a day or so and measure the pH in both containers. If my guess is right, the water with a sample of substrate in it will have a higher pH. If your substrate is driving up the pH the solution is simple but not easy to do. You will need to replace the substrate with something that won't drive the pH up. At a pH of over 8, the ammonia in your water is much more dangerous than it would be at a lower pH so keep a sharp eye out for any ammonia that shows up.

 

[iwantmorecash]

The pH of water will rise after it comes out of the tap because CO2 dissolved in the water will come out of solution. The pH will not rise as much as has been reported here unless there is something in the tank forcing the pH to rise. Wood will not raise pH although some will lower it more than others. The first place to look would be the substrate, whether it is sand or gravel. Take a sample of your gravel and put it in a sample of tap water and draw another sample of tap water. Let both stand for a day or so and measure the pH in both containers. If my guess is right, the water with a sample of substrate in it will have a higher pH. If your substrate is driving up the pH the solution is simple but not easy to do. You will need to replace the substrate with something that won't drive the pH up. At a pH of over 8, the ammonia in your water is much more dangerous than it would be at a lower pH so keep a sharp eye out for any ammonia that shows up.

Took a sand and tap water sample this morning and will test tommorow.....

could it be the "filterstart i was adding every other day

 

[OldMan47]

As far as I can find out, the filter start is just a bottle of dead bacteria that does no good but more importantly does no harm in your tank. I doubt that it has any beneficial effect but would be very surprised if it was causing any problems. Regardless of that, please keep mentioning anything that you do to your tank water. Who knows when something that you think insignificant will be the clue that we need to get a good answer for your issues.

 

[iwantmorecash]

As far as I can find out, the filter start is just a bottle of dead bacteria that does no good but more importantly does no harm in your tank. I doubt that it has any beneficial effect but would be very surprised if it was causing any problems. Regardless of that, please keep mentioning anything that you do to your tank water. Who knows when something that you think insignificant will be the clue that we need to get a good answer for your issues.

only other things ive been putting in tank are food "aqua one Discus granuals"
and "stress coat " in fresh water when doing water changes..

Tested sand and std tap water BOTH came out at 6.5-7

re tested tank and came out 6.5....... so may have been contaminated test tube ??? on origonal test.

 

[OldMan47]

OK so it looks like you don't have the pH rising like we thought. As long as all you are adding to the water is enough food for your fish and some dechlorinator, it will just be a matter of time before the tank becomes stable and cycled.

 

[iwantmorecash]

OK so it looks like you don't have the pH rising like we thought. As long as all tyou are adding to the water is enough food for your fish and some dechlorinator, it will just be a matter of time before the tank becomes stable ab=nd cycled.

Just adding a pinch of food prob about 1/2 cm in a test tube ish ..... its all eaten within 20 -30 second and only feed once a day.

The tub of food looks full still

 

[iwantmorecash]

Tested water today and had movement from the nill readings

Ammonia nil
nirIte 0.1
nitrAte less than 3 but more than 0


So some thing is happening !!!!!!!!!

 

[iwantmorecash]

Hi again

Is my tank starting to cycle ?

Todays readings

Ammoina NIL (has never been a regestered reading)
NitrIte 0.1 (Has been this for about a week)
NitrAte 5 (Has been slowly going up all week)

PH 6

Have been doing 10% water changes evey 3rd day



At what level should i consider my tank cycled with the current load?


Thnaks again

 

[waterdrop]

The test for the end of a fishless cycle, which you appear to be in, is to reach the point where not even a trace of ammonia or nitrite shows up (zero ppm ammonia, zero ppm nitrite(NO2) via your Nutrafin tests) for two full days without you having changed any water. The trace of nitrite you are reporting should indicate you haven't quite reached that point yet. It usually takes about a month or a little more on average before these solid zeros are likely to happen.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[timbruun]

only problem is that your test kit doesn't test low enough ammonia. the lowest of 0.6 is not good. you want to be able to test as low as you can. the api test kit is 0.25

 

[OldMan47]

You are doing fine Matt. The small amount of nitrite is being controlled which I am sure your fish appreciate. Although it would be nice to measure lower values, as suggested by Timbruun, your kit just doesn't go there. With your low pH, you will have a very hard time ever developing a good colony of bacteria to process your water's chemicals but at least the ammonia is less toxic with that low pH value. If you can ease the pH up to around 7.0 or a little more by using some small amounts of crushed shell or crushed coral in your filter, the bacteria will develop better and help you not have to do as many water changes to control nitrites. On the other hand, the higher pH will make ammonia more toxic than it is in your present pH so there is a trade off to consider.