Should i trust my lfs?

[Fishy Fishy Man]

Hello,

I just went to my lfs today as they are watching over our new tank.

They did a test on the water, and found amonia and nitrites in the tank, which isnt abnormal as we are cycling atm.


One thing that concerns me is they said our ph is a little low, at 6.8 so they gave us some shell grit to raise it a bit. I've heard that adding things to your aquarium to change the ph isnt the best idea, so what do you think?


I dont really trust them since
1. they let us cycle with neon tetras
2. they gave us two bristle nosed plec without any bristlenosed plec food or a mature tank with algea, AND a red finned shark without any sinking food This led to both plecos startving to death

One more question. They gave us food for the red finned shark today that sinks (slowly i might add). Im not sure wether to put it in now or later. Our tank is still cycling and this food WILL be eaten by our other fish. As far as i can tell, our shark has been living on little or no food for a week, and i fed the fish yesterday.

Should i put the food in now to try and save the shark but risk raising amonia levels or wait till tomorrow and risk him starving (both plecs died yesterday)

thanks for listening, ill shut up now

FFM [/insessant jabbering]

 

[kev_kb]

You can use Neons to cycle, well I did and they are doing fine, just keep Ammonia & Nitrite under 1ppm. If I were you I'd buy my own test kit and do as many water changes as needed to achieve this.

Your bottom feeders should of been getting a little of the sunken flakes, and your tank probably has some algae. I would feed him if your worried, you can always water change later to avoid the levels raising too much.

 

[shadow]

You can cycle your tank with fish, since not too many people know about the fishless cycling. When I first strarted, I did not and wound up loosing a mollie in the process. The pleco should be fine. When I bought mine, I was told that if he was hanging on the windows and things, there was enough "food" for him. Sometimes you just can't see the things.

If you feel that strongly about your lfs not knowing enough, I would take matters into your own hands, which I can saee you're doing now. Just continue to do what you know is best. Good luck and I hope everything turns out great!

 

[LadyMinion]

I agree with your concerns about the Ph advice you were given - I wouldn't recommend trying to change it. Otherwise, everytime you change the water you will be varying the Ph which will do far more damage to your fish.

6.8 is very close to neutral anyway - when you purchase your fish, make sure you acclimatise them by letting them float in the bag for as long as possible. You shouldn't have any problems so long as you don't go for fish that prefer a more alkaline setup (i.e. many cichlids).

 

[black angel]

just a thought. can you when its feeding time distract the fish to one corner and try and put a bit of food at the other end and hopefully the flake should hit the bottom before the others see it

 

[clutterydrawer]

All fish have their own "favourite" pH. Yours is very slightly acidic - neon tetras will like this! don't mess with it, it'll do more harm than good.

 

[Fishy Fishy Man]

Thx for the feedback guys. Ive waited till today to feed them and got the shark some food by distracting the others with the flake. I will talk to my dad about the ph changing.

Is shell grit just another name for ph up? if so is that temporary aswell. My lfs said to add a certain amount every water change, will this keep the ph steady?

How long is a reasonable amount of time to let them float in the bag? dont want them to die of amonia poisoning before they are let into the tank (dont worry, i wont put any fish in till the cycle is done)

Thx in advance

FFM
[/annoying asking of obvious questions]