Water Cemistry question

[MikeO]

I am right now still going though a fishless cycel, and I just tested the pH, and found it hi (7.8) Well I figured that is way to high, and thought it might be a product of the high amonia, it has spiked (way to high off chart, right now I am doing 2 water chages a day to bring it down again) well I tested the tap water to get a base level for the waters pH in my new apt, well i have found that the pH in the tap water is also 7.8 (so I have not had a pH crash or spike) My question is should I play with the pH and bring it to 6.5 to 7 or should I just leave it at it curent level. I know that the 7.8 is in the range for a Red Eye tetra but that is the upper limit, is it ok to leave it there, or should I adjust it. Also I filter my water before I drink it :soda:, because I hate the taste of city water, should I do the same for the fishes water, or is ageing all I need to do.

Also the Nitrite is on the rise now. I do not see any Nitrates yet, But I wonder if I will see them ever since I have added plants already, am I right in that, will the tank be safe when both the amonia and Nitrites drop to 0ppm?

I feel like a mad scientist with all the chemicals I am mixing for these tests and all the test tubes I am using

 

[Blinky]

Hiya

I am right now still going though a fishless cycel
Bravo!
and I just tested the pH, and found it hi (7.8) Well I figured that is way to high, and thought it might be a product of the high amonia, it has spiked (way to high off chart, right now I am doing 2 water chages a day to bring it down again) well I tested the tap water to get a base level for the waters pH in my new apt, well i have found that the pH in the tap water is also 7.8 (so I have not had a pH crash or spike) My question is should I play with the pH and bring it to 6.5 to 7 or should I just leave it at it curent level.
I know that the 7.8 is in the range for a Red Eye tetra but that is the upper limit, is it ok to leave it there, or should I adjust it.
Leave well enough alone - swings in pH are more stressful for fish than living at a steady pH, even if it's higher or lower than their 'ideal' pH Also I filter my water before I drink it :soda:, because I hate the taste of city water, should I do the same for the fishes water, or is ageing all I need to do.
I'd just use a good water conditioner
Also the Nitrite is on the rise now. I do not see any Nitrates yet, But I wonder if I will see them ever since I have added plants already, am I right in that, will the tank be safe when both the amonia and Nitrites drop to 0ppm?
When NH3 and NO2 are 0 and NO3 levels rise you'll know you're done your cycle. If you've got lots of fast-growing plants and don't see appreciable levels of NO3 you'll want to fertilize to keep NO3 ~10ppm
I feel like a mad scientist with all the chemicals I am mixing for these tests and all the test tubes I am using
I know what you mean - you should see my kitchen when I'm mixing up a batch of plant fertilizer!

 

[MikeO]

You are saying I want the NO3 levels to be at 10ppm, my question is how would I want to do that, if it does not go there or stay there, also is plant fertilizer needed? I never had plants in my last tank. I am going to assume the stuff you get in the store will not be good for the tank. What do you do for your fertilizer? Is it liquid or is it a solid you make and put in the gravel/sand near the roots of the plants?

Also how reliable is a "water conditioner", when I use to do my last tank I never trusted those and just relied on aging the water for a week.

 

[Blinky]

Ageing the water is great if you've only got chlorine - it will leave the water within 24 hours. If your water supply contains chloramines, you'll need a conditioner that will break the chemical bond between chlorine and ammonia. for a planted tank, I recently read that you don't want a conditioner that binds heavy metals as it will affect the fertilizers added to the tank - not sure if that's valid or not, but I now use Ammo-Loc because it takes care of chloramines, contains no aloe/slime coat (which I think are pretty much useless) and doesn't remove metals.
Check out the old posts and sticky in the planted forum on fertilization - if you want to see what I use, it's in my tank specs (click on my signature). I mix up my own, and I'm constantly tinkering with the mix. I'm using flourite, so I don't bother with root tabs - I've read they can cause algae blooms if the plant is uprooted and pieces of the tab get into the water.
If you've got good light and you're adding CO2 you'll need to fertilize - in lower light tanks with little or no CO2 NPK may not be as critical but I still think trace elements are important. I follow the good advice I got from Len and Tom and aim to keep my NO3 ~10ppm and my PO4 ~1ppm. I have no problems with algae, and the plants are doing well. I'm still learning, so I'd recommend posting specific questions on the planted forum so you get other people's opinions as well

 

[TKOS]

I would add the water conditoner as well. It is pretty sound science behind how it works. Also I agree that leaving the pH is the best way to go, just make sure to acclimate new fish slowly depending on how different their water at the fish store is.

 

[MikeO]

Here is how I will be adding the fish when it is time to add them (but it probably will be another 3 weeks, the tank is about 8 days old right now.), this is how I did it before when I had the first set up. I would float them for 30 minutes, and then add water to the bag. Float for 10 minutes, then add more water from the tank to the bag and add more water and float for another 10 minutes. When I add the water I will be increasing the water volume by 50% of what is already in the bag.

 

[TKOS]

That is a good way to do it, though you really don't have to float the bag. In fact I don't like to float the bag as you don't really know what sort of oils etc... could be on the outside of the bag and could contaminate your water. I generally dump my fish into a small container (carefully), then take some of the fish store water out and add some tank water. I keep doing this for 1 hour or so (every 10 minutes a bit of a water change) then scoop the fish with a net and add them to the tank.

That way you can be pretty sure you won't get any contaminations from the fish store.