What A Great Site For A Beginner. A Few Questions

[simb07]

Hi All,
As a complete novice to fishkeeping I would like to say what a great source of info this site has been/ will continue to be to me.
If I'd listened to the Lfs I'd probably have a tank full of dead fish by now. Luckily after buying my tank ( a small 60l to begin with a week ago )I found this site & stumbled across the topic of Fishless Cycling. The threads posted are all informative and the science behind it seems a far better/kinder way of setting up my first tank.Thankfully I hadn't bought any fish before I found it.
A little daunting at first but I now think I have the knowledge to fishless cycle the tank. I have declor'd the water and added to the tank, bought an API freshwater master test kit & have some (non surfactant 9.5% ammonia) I have no `seed` from an old tank so I am execting it to be a longer - but worthy excercise.
I've even added 3.19ml of the ammonia to raise base level to 5ppm today but have a few early questions. Any advice would be great.

Firstly my readings ( straight from tap ) seem pretty good from what i read.
PH. 7.6
Ammonia 0
NitrIte 0
NitRate 10ppm

my tank water after resting for a few days ( and adding the Ammonia today now reads )
PH. 8.2
Ammonia 5ppm
not tested for NO2/NO3 as none should be present !!! If i've grasped it

My first question really is about my test kit ( API freshwater master liquid )

1/ some of the instructions say the colour charts are "appropriate to use for testing aquariums to which salt has been added" does this mean my un-salted tank results may not be accurate ?
2/ the ammonia colour chart has colour/readings at 0,0.25,0.5,1.0,2.0,4.0 & 8.0ppm as i'm aiming for 5ppm at this stage is it just a `gestimate that i'm between colour ranges just above 4 & below 8ppm ?
Anybody else noticed this or have i got a "weird" kit ?

3/ The fact my PH is very high at present doesn't seem to matter to the cycle ? is that correct
4/ If this stays high towards the end of the cycle I have bought some "bogwood" to hopefully bring it down. I am boling it tonight as I hear Tannins in the tank although harmless are not everyones cuppa-T. once boiled would i need to soak in dechlorinated water prior to introducing to tank ? wouldn't untreated water soak into the wood & potentially kill my bacterial growth ?

Some early questions ( sure there will be more ) from a very willing learner

Thanks again for such a great site.

Simb07

 

[aly_starh]

to TTF

Be prepared to wait for the tannins in the wood to come out, mine has been soaking for 5 weeks now in a bucket prior to 12 hours boiling!...and still tannins..!!

Cant comment on rest as i have just started Fish-In Cycling, but im sure someone else will be able to help!

 

[MOA]

simb07,

call me MOA. As to the test kits, most are not "super" accurate. In fact, compared to lab results, even the best kits can be off by more than 25% over 50% of the time. This means that they serve as more of a "benchmark" for aquarists than a strict rule. Consequently, guessing between values is okay and is going to be part of keeping fish. Additionally, the high pH will slow the cycle down a bit but won't be too dangerous. In fact, as the ammonia is coverted to nitrite and nitrate, the pH may naturally fall. In short, your tank looks fine for where it is at--just needs a little patience.

As to the driftwood thing, I usually wind up making my own so I cannot comment much on store-bought woods. For the woods I have used, putting the wood in untreated water is okay as long as your water company uses chlorine (instead of chloramine) and you wait at least 24 hours. If your water company uses chloramine, then you will want to dechlor the water before it comes in contact with the wood. There are chlorine tests available at petshops.

MOA

 

[OldMan47]

Your test kit will work fine on a freshwater tank.
Do not fight the fact that the ammonia colors are at 4 and 8 ppm, just dose to 4 ppm and everything will work out fine.
The ideal pH for cycling is about 8.4 so the cycle should progress well with your water readings.
The move from 7.6 to 8.2 was probably caused by CO2 in the tap water gassing off over the 2 days. It is also not a problem. If you get fish that like a relatively high pH, like common livebearers or African rift lake fish, they will love the water you get right from the tap. The benefit of matching the fish to the tap water is that you don't need to fuss with the water constantly and can enjoy your fish instead.

 

[waterdrop]

Hi simb07 and welcome to TFF!

1) Aquarium pharma (API) make both fresh and saltwater testing kits. For a few of the tests the only difference is the color matching cards that are put into the kit. As long as you have the kit that say API Freshwater Master Test Kit, you are fine.

2) The color matching ranges you've listed for the freshwater ammonia test are correct. Use bright consistent light, holding the tube and chart in a similar place relative to the light each time and place the test result tube over the white area next to the colors. We all "guesstimate" our results. As OM47 said, just go with 4ppm for now. You can try for a slight shade darker near the very end of the fishless cycle (perhaps many weeks from now) as the detailed quantity would only perhaps matter a little then. The 5ppm was chosen for simplicity in the article. You will find we may recommend slight variations during your process if you seek feedback in your thread thoughout the cycling.

3) For pH, temp, and many things, it helps to separate in your mind the period of fishless cycling from the period afterward when you have fish and have settled in to normal maintenance. Think of the period before that final big water change and getting fish as a whole separate "era" of your tank. During the "fishless cycling era" your water is there to hopefully provide the perfect "bacterial growing soup," whereas afterward its there to be the perfect water for your fish.

The ideal bacterial growing soup to aim for is pH 8.0 to 8.4, temp 84F/29C, tap water that has a little hardness to it (the bacteria use a bit of the calcium in their cell structures and a bit of iron in their enzymes, which most tap water readily provides.) Other than heating and adding the pure ammonia, we like to start out not altering the tap water in any way, so your tap water, which looks to be a good match, should be excellent.

4) As OM47 discusses, its better to get the mindset now that you build your fish population plan -around- the type/parameters of tap water that you've been "given" by your location... your water source. This is much better than thinking you will somehow -alter- the basic parameters of your water. When you look at the fish profiles for the individual species (which ideally you'll do in various homework sessions during the weeks of your fishless cycle) you'll want to gradually build up lists of fish that are known to like your type of water. Think of their parameters not as a restrictive thing with numerical limits but as a direction or guideline where you're trying to have the species and the source water reasonably close and are consulting with the members once it gets more specific. Woods are great and yes, it can take a long time of them sitting in a bucket of dechlored water and periodically getting kettles of boiling water dumped over them for the debris and tannins to be gone. How long it takes varies wildly with each piece of wood.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[sjolliff]

Just a quick tip
when you get the PH crash use some baking soda to bring it back up again
1tspn per 20L

 

[llamalord305]

To find out what your water has, you can try going into the county website. Mine had a "Water Quality Report" Said they use no chlorine and chloramines, among other things.

 

[simb07]

Thanks for the info,
my tank will hopefully soon be a buubling soup of good bacteria !!
It came with a stressZyme sachet which says will speed filtration bacterial build-up. I know a lot of posters who disagree that any of these can actually work as they've been shelf stacked for god knows how long. But does anyone reckon it's worth `bunging in ? or will i be asking for trouble ?
simb07

 

[mattlee]

it wont do any harm but wont do much good either..... choice is yours!