what to add in water

[Yao]

right now I'm only adding a dechlorinator when I change my water. I've read that some people add water conditioners and other stuff. Is that necessary? Or am I okay with just adding dechlorinator when I change my water? I have a 20g long, 3 angels, 3 gouramis, 3 corys.

Also, I keep feeling like maybe I'm over feeding? How do I determine the right amount of food? Right now I'm putting in about three pinches of flake food (I know that's not clear, but don't know how else to describe.) I'm going to start giving the angels some frozen blood worms, I was thinking once a week.

Am I doing this right

[rich311k]

No need to add anything but dechlor. I feed my fish twicea day. Just a pinch so the food is gone quickly. Your angels will love the blood worms as a treat twice a week. If I go more than a week without giving mine some they go in the freezer and get it themselves.

[Bhunsucker]

All I use is Prime for my water changes. I feed my fish twice a day and give them enough to eat in about 1 minute. I give blood worms about twice a week sometimes three if they have been real good

[gheitman]

I also use Seachem's Prime to detoxify my tap water. I've also used Jungle's Start Right with success. You don't really need to add anything else although I do use Tetra's Blackwater Extract for my tanks with angelfish and other South American cichlids.

[TankGirl]

Yao - I agree with the above - what is often sold as "water conditioner" is really just dechlorinator/dechloraminator and that is all you need to make your tap water safe. Probably the very best thing you can do for your fish is very regular water changes, no additives necessary.

As far as feeding, all I can add to the above is that you want to feed your fish as much as they will consume in 1-2 minutes - and you want to be sure there is no uneaten food left behind. Variety in the diet is a great thing, so I like to have a selection of 4-5 different foods (flake, frozen, pellet, etc.) and alternate every day. If you do a search here on foods you will get lots of threads about what people feed their fish, and how often.

[Pearlgirl]

My tank is only 2 weeks old but I can't seem to get the alkainity and [acronym:bbdcdb0d80="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]ph[/acronym:bbdcdb0d80] down to acceptable levels. I do a 25% water change everyday as well. Any advise? I am only going to put some goldfish in to start with but I don't want to damage them with bad water.

[cplawrence]

My guess is that the water changes are not helping because your tap water has a high pH. Most fish have been tank bred for so many generations that they can handle less than ideal conditions (for example, a fish that natively inhabits acidic waters will do fine in a neutral pH). The first thing I would suggest though is checking you tap. If you do want to adjust the pH, you could use purified water ([acronym:c5942f0acf="Reverse osmosis"]RO[/acronym:c5942f0acf]/[acronym:c5942f0acf="Deionization"]DI[/acronym:c5942f0acf]) which would have a pH right around 7 or you could filter through peat.

[Menagerie]

Pearlgirl, what is the pH of the tap water if you allow it to sit out for 10-12 hours? Please post all water parameters so we can better help you. How are you cycling the tank?

[Pearlgirl]

I just checked my tap water after it has sat for 12 hours. These are the readings.
Nitrate 10
Nitrite 0
hardness 300
alkaline 250
[acronym:058c62cae9="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:058c62cae9] 7.6
ammonia 0
Tank readings
alkaline 300
[acronym:058c62cae9="power head or Measure of the concentration of hydrogen ions, depending on context"]PH[/acronym:058c62cae9] 8.4
ammonia 0
My tap water comes from a well and isn't chlorinated.

I use a Top fin#30 power filter with a bio-bag filled with activated carbon.

[cplawrence]

OK--so your tap is indeed high, but something must be raising it in the tank. What do you have as far as decorations or the substrate of the tank? This could be the culprit as some rocks or sands will raise the pH of the water.