help with my readings & keeping my pleco alive

[kristap]

My bf has a 45g which used to hold his oscars. However, about 3 mos ago, the last one died and the tank has been running empty since then. I got fed up with the tank sitting there - vacuumed the gravel and changed out ~60% of the water. I assumed (yeah, I know what that means) that since the tank had been working & filtering (penguin 330) that the tank would not have to be cycled and added a pleco about 4 days after the cleanup/mass water change before finding this web site & its excellent advice. So now I have a nice pleco, still alive & apparently? healthy but he's swimming in this water:

nitrite: .25
ph: 6.0!!!
ammonia: -
nitrate: -

The ammonia & nitrate showed no color at all. According to the test instructions, 0ppm should be a light yellow. I'm sure - there is no color at all in the results for these tests. Is this a normal result for these tests?

The very low ph is a concern and while I've found lots of conversation on decreasing ph, there doesn't seem to be much on increasing. I'd like to do this gradually but is the pleco in imminent danger on account of the ph? (also, my water is very hard)

thanks for any help!
krista

 

[Zagz]

I would recommend a pwc for now. I'd like to be able to help you with the ph issue but am no help there. I can tell you to keep checking your readings regularily as it you are going through a cycle again. I have been advised by many that a tank that sits empty with no fish will lose it's bacteria and have to cycle again. I'm sure there are others here that will offer advice on the ph troubles.

 

[greenmaji]

it seems to be going through the nitrite phase of a cycle.."if you test kit isnt bad" pleco's are from south america.. they would do better in a low PH.. and 6 is not a bad PH.. below 5 then you have something to worry about.. I would leave the PH alone.. It might come up some on its own with more pwc's.. it was likely very low from sitting around dirty.. the wastes in the water will use up the buffering capacity of the water and lower the PH drastically sometimes.. If your tap water is very hard and has a very high PH you need to do alot of very small water changes to get the ph up to the tap waters level.. try to do water changes that will increase the PH no more than .2 points at a time or less.. whatever % that would be.. you didnt give the PH of the tap water or I would suggest something.. and I would do the water changes daily until the PH is were you can keep it stable..
About your tests- once the test reactants have been opened they strart degrading.. if they have been opened for more than a year you might want to look into buying new ones..

 

[krap101]

did you put both bottles? i tried 2ce until i noticed there was another bottle.

 

[greenmaji]

did you put both bottles? i tried 2ce until i noticed there was another bottle.

I didnt think to ask that but.. If you follow the directions closely they will tell you about the bottles.. good question krap101..

 

[Meredith]

how old is your test kit? You should be getting a reading, even if it is 0. I would go and get another kit.

 

[kristap]

What do you know, 2 bottles? I thought the second bottle was just that ... for when the first bottle ran out The kit is brand new and once user error was corrected, it seems to be just fine.

I tested the tap water, readings below, and as you suggested, it looks like PWCs will raise the ph. However, I'm not exactly sure what the ph is. The first test was done with the std freshwater ph indicator solution and it registered a blue-ish colow which would indicate a 7.2 or 7.6. Since this was at the high end of the scale, I retested with the high ph solution and this result was purple which would indicate an 8.4 or 8.8. Now, I'm really confused!!

my tap water:
nitrite:0
ammonia:0
ph:
nitrate: 0

update - strip test on the tap water reports ph of 6.8

 

[Jchillin]

Your ph is fine, no need to worry about it. Now that the testing has been done, it looks like you are at the beginning of the cycle. Please read the article regarding cycling (located in the articles section...top of any page on the site).

Oh, this is what ph is: (chemistry) p(otential of) H(ydrogen); the logarithm of the reciprocal of hydrogen-ion concentration in gram atoms per liter; provides a measure on a scale from 0 to 14 of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution (where 7 is neutral and greater than 7 is alkaline and less than 7 is acidic).

HTH.

 

[greenmaji]

less than 7 is acidic and greater than 7 is basic but thats the idea behind it..
I dont know if you copied and pasted that from somewhere or was typing from memory JC.. but 12 molar hydrochloric acid has a ph near 0 were draino has a ph up around 10 or more..

It seems you might want to invest in some bio-jump-start bacterial chemical or look for an established tank to borrow filter media or gravel from to help jump-start your cycle.. The PH should fix itself with the water changes you will have to do to control the ammonia and nitrite that will be coming soon..

 

[Jchillin]

I have to proofread my stuff a little better. Thanks for pointing that out Greenmaji. Yeah, that was from memory. I've made the proper adjustment.

 

[kristap]

Thanks for the help - so you think that continued water changes are going to be the ticket to reaching a nice equilibrium?

Now that I know how to test, my tank readings:
nitrite: 0
ammonia: .5
ph: 6.0
nitrate: 10

 

[greenmaji]

your defiantly starting a new cycle.. have you read the article yet.. if not I would advise you did..