Stocking Ideas

[Dieses Madchen]

What is your pH level now? If the pH is really low, the cycle may have stalled

 

[Fishy friend2]

yes. a sudden change in PH can stall the cycle for a while, so it would be best to test the PH right now

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Well it's actually at around 7.6 at the moment but it has sudenly dropped at least twice over the cycling period and ive tried to bring it back up with bicarb. I'm starting to feel like i should just leave it alone and keep adding my ammonia (which is getting gobbled up really quickly now) .
When i say "dropped" my test kit doesnt read below 6.4 and it's def gone that low but my tapwater is 6.8.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

You could get crushed coral and add it to the tank. the problem with bicarb is that it will lose the affect. Crushed coral wont.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Cool, do you think i can get that at most aquatic stores? Could i add it in a net so that i could remove it later?
I've been wondering if adding all this bicarb is creating some nasty buildup in my tank somehow - makes me nervous! I've only been adding it at 1/2 tsp at a time.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

yes you can add it in a net. use a pantyhose stocking. and yes, you can find it at aquatic stores. a lot of people use it for cichlid tanks to maintain high pH

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Thanks! I'll pick some up tomorrow, i need to get more liquid test kits anyway, finally nearly done with these strips!

 

[Dieses Madchen]

yeah liquid tests are much better. strips are notoriously inaccurate and not the best to use for fishless cycle.

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Yeah, hindsight and all that! I've been using a liquid tester for my ammonia for a while but when the nitrites are just off the chart anyway i figured i might as well use them for that

 

[Dieses Madchen]

Good point lol. I wish you the best of luck. Cant wait to see your tank when it is up and going!!

 

[Cerbius]

If you live in an area with softer water like me, the PH level is never really that stable. With harder water it then starts becoming more balanced

 

[Fishball7]

Oh we have another one of these types.....oh boy

For one, you don't need to talk to people like they are dumb or don't know they are doing. I test my pH and my other parameters and do what I can naturally to accommodate my fish. Most tank bred fish are very adaptable and will thrive in a multitude of different pH levels. Its the acclimatizing process that will make or break the fish. You run a higher risk of messing up your fish throwing in chemicals to meet textbook requirements that you do having a stable pH. Based on your assumptions of us and out knowledge, I am going to assume that because you are out to perfect, that you have a betta in stagnant waters to replicate a rice paddy?

I didn't talk to anyone like they're dumb. Pointing out my own wrong assumption wasn't pointing at anyone else that they're dumb. I had assumed people would do tests on parameters etc as I said before and wanted the same things I had wanted for my fish, and realised what an error that was. I didn't say to keep altering pH levels perhaps in the sense you're meaning ie changing pH in the tank constantly, nor did I say pH was the only factor to consider. Acclimatising process is one thing and there are a lot of other factors that will make or break the fish eg if one can acclimate which I presume to mean from the bag to the tank, a lake malawi cichlid to very soft acidic water, I don't think they will do very well as compared to living in hard alkaline water. Neither did I say to throw in chemicals to meet textbook requirements--at all. But that to keep what fish with what water you can have, or rather, prepared to have. Many people go to great lengths to make sure their fish are super comfy. Reverse osmosis water, for one, instead of chucking in, say, a discus into a hard alkaline water. Sure it might work, but it's not for the best. I'm not after perfection; check out discus keepers or other more exotic keepers! Lol, some crazy, or should I say , passionate people. Or reefers. Those are...way up there. Other than I guess for ethical reason, if one wouldn't take such risks for expensive fish, why take risks for a splendens or any other fish? And bettas don't just live in rice paddies. But I do lower the flow rate of my filter to mimic what they had lived in before, especially since they are wild caught. The filter flow is more for the plants anyway. My main point being, do what you want.

 

[Dieses Madchen]

A betta splenden will do just as well with a stable pH that is less than ideal, as a betta in the perfect pH. Check out the betta that won FOTM for Feb. Came right out of hard water

Betta's can be kept with other fish, regardless of pH. Most fish come from a softer water source. Are you saying that people with hard tap water than do not want to chemical alter the water should not keep fish?

I know I am probably reading really deep into the way you have spoken, and the information you have put out, but these are the many ways it can be perceived. Just letting you know

 

[Alm0stAwesome]

Hey folks - couple of updates and questions for you tonight.
In relation to my stalled cycling, i had a long chat with the guy at my LFS who mentioned that it may actually be my ammonia stalling the cycle and lo and behold i think i have been adding too much ammonia! So i'm cutting back to 2 or 3 ppm every 12 hours now. i was doing quite a bit over that, whoops! I never considered it was too much as it was dissapearing so quickly.

Ive bought some silk plants which i did used to have but changed to plastic because they got stained, i have always liked silk better anyway!

Back to the subject at hand....stocking! Now, this subject makes me nervous because im a rookie and i'm scared of getting told off but here goes lol, i can take it! My LFS has some lovely purple harlequin rasboras in stock and some small Sterbai cory (£7 each, ouch!). Could i have 5 or 6 rasbora and 3 or 4 of the cory? I know that's not what youve reccomended and i feel like a naughty child for suggesting it but is it feasible? If i go slow?