Water levels

Dan the Fish

AC Members
Sep 22, 2005
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Hi again all,
I got my master test kit finally and i can test all the levels myself. Wohoo! As I just did, i just got my 10g tank almost 2 weeks ago now. I have done eveyrthing that i am supposed to to my knowledge and I was simply wondering if these levels are about normal for a 2 week old tank?

PH = 7.6ish (maybe a little on the high side)
Ammonia = 1.0
NO-2 = 0
NO-3 = 0

i do have a external biological power filter which i have read could take from 2-6 weeks to mature so im hoping these levels are normal at first. So I thought I'd ask the pro's.
:help:

:shark:


Thanks alot
 
Presuming a fish cycle? Yes, that's fairly normal. I would start doing water changes to prevent the ammonia levels from spiking any higher than 1 ppm. The pH is fine, unless you're planning on adding delicate, wild caught fish like scalare angels. If that's the case, you'll need to plan for using stable methods to filter the water (ie, adding chemicals won't produce the stable results you're looking for--using RO water will be better).
 
Meaning--the tank is being cycled with fish in there. RO = reverse osmosis filtered water. RO filters remove most of the impurities in water, resulting in very low KH, GH, and pH water. You add back a minimal amount of minreals needed to stabilize the water chemistry. But, once more, this is probably not needed. The vast majority of fish will be fine in 7.6 pH water for their entire lives.
 
for most fish, the important thing isn't the PH level itself, but rather that it stays stable and isn't changing every time you change the water.
 
yes i have one zebra danio, that from my research is the best way to start the whole nitrite/nitrate cycle. Thanks for explaining that to me.
 
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