Should I worry?

[authmal]

I posted in another thread that I was going to acquire an API Master Test Kit this weekend, and I have. I had results of pH 8.2, ammonia between 0 - 0.25 (the color is in between), 0 nitrites, and between 10 and 20 nitrates.

Obviously, the 0 nitrites is good, and according to the instructions on the test kit, anything under 40 on the nitrates is good. Is the pH enough of an issue that I should work to remedy it? I don't think the chemical pH down type stuff is something I'd like to use, but should I acquire some peat media?

I'm pretty sure the ammonia was a bit high because of the food (essentially 2 Mosuri brand shrimp sticks) I found uneaten (I've been putting in half a stick twice a week for two weeks) that got lodged under some driftwood, and some broccoli stalks I accidentally forgot to take out last night. I did find a dead RCS, but it looked to have been a recent death as it was still very red; I rarely see more than 7 or 8 of my now 11, but one is a female proudly displaying her clutch of eggs in her swimmerets. Yes, I've removed everything that was dead or uneaten.

I'm planning on testing the water again tomorrow, as well as the off gassed water from the tap.

 

[TL1000RSquid]

I wouldn't panic over it as far as it hurting your RCS, its not ideal but its not going kill them. I would try to bring down .4-.6 though. My shrimp tank generaly hovers around 7.6ish

 

[authmal]

Would the decaying food increase the pH? What's a good and more natural way to bring the pH down?

 

[the wizard]

You do need to do a water change to reduce the ammonia. Even trace amounts of ammonia are toxic, more so with higher ph.

 

[Linda S]

what is the pH of your tap water after letting it out gas over night? I ask to determine if your pH is that high out of the tap, or perhaps something in your tank is raising it. If it is naturally at 8.2 I would tend to leave it alone. ifnot I would find what is raising the pH and remove it. Using chemicals to reduce the pH is asking for trouble.

 

[jpierce3]

Playing with the pH is probably going to cause more trouble than help. My water comes out of the tap at 8.2 and stays between 8.2 and 8.4. I know quite a few people that raise RCS in similar water to mine without any problems.

 

[authmal]

You do need to do a water change to reduce the ammonia. Even trace amounts of ammonia are toxic, more so with higher ph.

Did one already today, and am ready to do another tomorrow after testing.

 

[authmal]

what is the pH of your tap water after letting it out gas over night? I ask to determine if your pH is that high out of the tap, or perhaps something in your tank is raising it. If it is naturally at 8.2 I would tend to leave it alone. ifnot I would find what is raising the pH and remove it. Using chemicals to reduce the pH is asking for trouble.

I don't know yet. I've got a glass of water sitting out right now, and that's a test for tomorrow. I agree with your last sentence very much, but I don't know what in the tank would be raising the pH (flourite substrate, chemically inert river rocks from my LFS, some plants, some driftwood, Top Fin 60 with just the filter floss, AC 70 with sponge, bio max, and Purigen, the stock listed in my bio), so my *assumption* is that it's the pH out of the tap. I know we have pretty hard water out here, but I don't know if we also have high pH water.

 

[authmal]

Well, after today's tests, it seems that I either have no ammonia problem, or a confusing ammonia problem. Testing the tank today, the resulting color was exactly the same as yesterday, prior to water change, which is between the 0 and 0.25 ppm reading colors. After letting the water from the tap sit for about 24 hours, it has the same reading on ammonia. I would imagine that my tank is fully cycled, since I did a fishless cycle (tested via strips) and have had fish in it since the beginning of July, and haven't added any new fish in three or four weeks, but did add some RCS 2 or 3 weeks ago. None of my fish seem to be in any kind of distress. I haven't lost a single one. They're all pretty active. None seem to have any inflamed gill slits, in fact, they're all colored up more than they were at the LFS/PetSmart. Is it possible that I'm just misreading the difference between printed card and actual liquid colors?

If my tank is cycled, the ammonia should be getting converted into nitrites (which read very clearly 0) and then into nitrates (which reads between 10 and 20). If not, the water change should change that value, right?

Oh, and the water from the tap is also showing roughly 8.2 pH (again, the color seems to be between 8.0 and 8.2, just like for the tank), so nothing in the tank is raising the pH. Is there some kind of media I could put in to reduce the pH? Peat pellets? Should I bother just in case something does happen causing a real ammonia spike?

:nilly:

 

[Jannika]

You can try using peat or driftwood, but if your water is hard like mine with a high kH, it probably won't do anything. My pH is 8.3 so an ammonia spike would be deadly, but they're easy enough to avoid. Just have to keep a close eye on things and avoid any drastic changes.