More help with fishy cycling

[kb46]

Help!!
Got some test kits yesterday - only nitrite, ammonia and ph - but beggars can't be choosers.
Tested my water this morning and got the following results:
PH 7.6 (top of scale)
Ammonia 0.1ppm
Nitrites lowest on scale <0.1ppm?

I have a 60L(16G) tank cycling with 3 guppies. I have some silk plants and some river pebble substrate.The fish have been in there for 2 weeks so I assume I am only at the beginning stages of the cycling and ammonium has yet to rise.

The test kit suggests a partial water change once Ammonia exceeds 0.2ppm. Now I can remember reading somewhere that PH affects ammonium's conversion to ammonia and that a high ph will have a higher ammonia % and be more harmful to the fish?
ETA: Just found this link in another thread http://dataguru.org/misc/aquarium/AmmoniaTox.html so now I can check this (perhaps my memory of the ammonia reading is out by a factor of ten!)

Since my ph is so high should I be doing a water change for any ammonia higher than 0?

Still would love an answer to this Q... Should I try to bring down the ph, if so with what?
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[kb46]

One more question re ammonium testing.
I have a Sera brand ammonium test kit. It has one colour chart which gives both an Ammonium % and an Ammonia % for each colour. Now that I understand the chemistry a bit better, I realise that the ammonia % changes for a given ammonium % according to ph and water temp.
So...
does the test kit measure ammonia?
or does it measure ammonium and then just give an ammonia % using a ph of 7 and, say, room temperature (24C)?

[Rbishop]

I am not familiar with that test kit, but when in a fishy cycle, do a water change whenever you indicate ammonia or nitritesm regardless of pH. Even if that means more than one in a day.

Eventually, you will see the time periods increasing between water changes and nitrates slowly increasing. After a time, you will only be doing water changes to maintain nitrates at an acceptable level.

[jessicar613]

Don't worry about your ph- you'll be keeping the ammonia to a minimum regardless. Also it sounds like you got a seperate kit for each test? I would go ahead and get a nitrate test. :( You're going to need one. It sounds like you got three seperate kits for amm, nitrite, and ph? For the future a master test kit has all the tests you need and shouldn't be more than maybe $20. The test selection at some of our lfs is really poor but if you call around you should be able to find one, it will save you a lot in the long run.

Oh and welcome to AC... :hi:

[kb46]

I live in Indonesia. Our LFS don't stock test kits at all :mad: so a mate very kindly bought these test kits back from overseas, he tried to get a master kit for me but the shop he went to didn't have any in stock so I am stuck for the time being...
BTW in Australia the master test kits range from $50-$130 - I might have to see if I can find an american friend...

Don't I feel a "right dill" to use my mothers words! I will try to excuse myself by saying that I was in a panic yesterday and didn't understand my test results - call it stage fright perhaps?

Went home last night and checked the kits and instructions, charts etc. I was confusing the tests and mixing them all up in my head. (1000 apologies to Sera.) My ammonia kit isn't a Sera one - that was my nitrite test kit! The nitrite test kit gives two lines (one an ionised form) not the ammonium one! My brain hurts so I think I'll research that another day, since it is sitting at 0 now.

I had remembered my test results correctly - a miracle, given the confusion about everything else!

Anyway, I will do daily testing for week to try to establish what part of the cycle my tank is at. I wish I had a nitrate test kit too
I tested my tap water this morning - pH 7.4 so I guess the pH is high in my tank because I used tap water to fill it originally. Also remembered that I can test my gravel simply by taking a few stones from the tank, drying them and then squirting some vinegar on them! :D The bottled water I have been using for water changes tests pH 7.0 as expected so my tank pH should come down slowly with the weekly water changes which should be least stressful for my guppies too.
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Thanks for all your help...
Kylie

[nickmcmechan]

Use eBay. Some of the sellers will transport abroad for a resonable postage cost, they may even negotiate with you.

Master test kits are about £18 GBP which is about $36 US, so if you can get someone from US to sell you them that would be less expensive for you as they retail around $20 US.

[Rbishop]

any particular reason you are using bottled water?

[hitman12131976]

I use bottled water as well. The tap water that I have here is really hard and it is flaky. I'd rather spend the 1.50 to fill up with 5 gallons of drinking water and have a nice looking tank than one filled with particles.

[davexstumpe]

i just noticed you said your pH was 7.6 or at the top of your kit's range.

i use API master test kit and im sure it's similiar to yours, but you might need a high range pH kit as well because even if the pH is at 9.0 it will come up as 7.6 because that's the highest range of your test kit.

just thought that would help, depending on what fish you want as well.

[hitman12131976]

i just noticed you said your pH was 7.6 or at the top of your kit's range.

i use API master test kit and im sure it's similiar to yours, but you might need a high range pH kit as well because even if the pH is at 9.0 it will come up as 7.6 because that's the highest range of your test kit.

just thought that would help, depending on what fish you want as well.

Yep, I use the API Master Test Kit and if I use the Regular pH test, it gives me 7.6. If I use the High pH test, it gives me about 7.8 or 8.0.