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
[acronym:b92278acf8="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:b92278acf8]: 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 [acronym:b92278acf8="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:b92278acf8] is a concern and while I've found lots of conversation on decreasing [acronym:b92278acf8="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:b92278acf8], 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 [acronym:b92278acf8="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:b92278acf8]? (also, my water is very hard)

thanks for any help!
krista

[Zagz]

I would recommend a [acronym:fa7a60bfc2="Partial water change"]pwc[/acronym:fa7a60bfc2] for now. I'd like to be able to help you with the [acronym:fa7a60bfc2="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:fa7a60bfc2] 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 [acronym:fa7a60bfc2="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:fa7a60bfc2] 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 [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30].. and 6 is not a bad [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30].. below 5 then you have something to worry about.. I would leave the [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30] alone.. It might come up some on its own with more [acronym:bc7bb43f30="Partial water change"]pwc[/acronym:bc7bb43f30]'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 [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30] drastically sometimes.. If your tap water is very hard and has a very high [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30] you need to do alot of very small water changes to get the [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:bc7bb43f30] up to the tap waters level.. try to do water changes that will increase the [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30] no more than .2 points at a time or less.. whatever % that would be.. you didnt give the [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30] of the tap water or I would suggest something.. and I would do the water changes daily until the [acronym:bc7bb43f30="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:bc7bb43f30] 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]

Originally Posted by krap101

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 [acronym:d2137543a6="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:d2137543a6]. However, I'm not exactly sure what the [acronym:d2137543a6="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:d2137543a6] is. The first test was done with the std freshwater [acronym:d2137543a6="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:d2137543a6] 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 [acronym:d2137543a6="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:d2137543a6] 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
[acronym:d2137543a6="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:d2137543a6]:
nitrate: 0

update - strip test on the tap water reports [acronym:d2137543a6="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:d2137543a6] of 6.8

[Jchillin]

Your [acronym:2aabe9c60e="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:2aabe9c60e] 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 [acronym:2aabe9c60e="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:2aabe9c60e] 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).

[acronym:2aabe9c60e="Hope this helps (or) Happy to help"]HTH[/acronym:2aabe9c60e].

[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 [acronym:677028afbb="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:677028afbb] near 0 were draino has a [acronym:677028afbb="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:677028afbb] 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 [acronym:677028afbb="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:677028afbb] 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.