DW won't sink ?

[DaveyGSXR]

I should be getting my 30 gal. soon, going to perform a fishless cycle and iam sorry about posting a bunch of questions you guys prob. hear everyday.. first off i know a little bit about fish keeping not very very much but enough, one of my questions is about the PH of my tap water, i was just sitting around today and decided hey lets test my tap water i tested it and its off the charts around 7.6 - 8.0 , this sort of worries me because will it be this high when i fill up my 30 gal. ? and will it effect the cycle ? and how will i keep it down around 7.0 ? also iam just going to get ammonia and a nitrite test kits because i was told u don't really need a nitrate test kit is this true ? please help in any way


Thanks,

Davey

[Cearbhaill]

Draw out some tap water into a glass and let it sit out overnight, preferrably with some aeration, then test the pH.
You might see a really big difference.

7.6-8.0 is not "off the charts" by any means- that is more than suitable for many, many species of fish.
Why do you want your pH at 7.0?
What fish are you planning to keep?

FWIW I keep Discus in 7.4- 7.6 water with zero problems.
Staying with the water you have makes water changes easy- if you have to treat water every time you need to change it sooner or later you will get lazy and skip a change, then another...

But try the 24 hour tap water thing first.

[JSchmidt]

I strongly agree about not attempting to alter pH. Testing tap water after sitting out overnight will give an idea what your tap water's pH really is.

I think a nitrate test kit is very important, especially for a beginner. Nitrates, except in planted tanks, are the best/easiest measure of when pollutants have built up in a tank, requiring a partial water change. A nitrate kit is one of the most important test kits, IMO.

Good luck,
Jim

[DaveyGSXR]

thanks alot guys !