water quality?

[BBradbury]

Tank Water Chemistry

Actually when a tank is cycling and ph is dropping to a point it will slow or stop the cycle then you do in fact need to know the ph and kh of the tank. It's not confusing. We aren't talking about fish adapting to tap water readings.

Apologies. I didn't read anything in the post about the tank going through the "nitrogen cycle". In this case, you need to know how much dissolved ammonia and nitrite you have in the tank water. I'd disagree that you'd need to know whether or not you have specific dissolved minerals in the water.

Aquarium fish and plants have been adapting to public tap water for decades and fretting over the make up the tank water is confusing at best. I'd wager most of the experienced water keepers don't understand the chemical make up their tap water. If I was a beginning tank keeper, I'd ignore things like pH, hardness, alkalinity and those things for now.

B

 

[Rivercats]

Apologies. I didn't read anything in the post about the tank going through the "nitrogen cycle". In this case, you need to know how much dissolved ammonia and nitrite you have in the tank water. I'd disagree that you'd need to know whether or not you have specific dissolved minerals in the water. B

The OP has a dropping Ph problem which means his cycle will slow if it drops below ph of 6.5 and will stop the cycle completely if it drops to 6 or lower. In this instance the OP needs to know his ph and his kh since his kh is what indicates how much buffer is or isn't in the water. I'm an old hobbiest too but times have changed since we were doing tanks and if you don't bother to learn or understand basic's such as Ph, Kh, or Gh which is not complicated how are you suppose to know why your Ph bottoms out or how to fix it. Not everyone has hard water with a high Kh (calcium) and Gh (magnesium & calcium) which means problems can occur. Especially while trying to cycle a tank. The days of one method fits all are long gone since all the information and technology is at everyone's finger tips now a days which we didn't have when we started out.

 

[BBradbury]

Water Chemistry

Hello Rcats...

Again, apologies for my lack of knowledge. Apparently, the days of "fish in" tank cycling and simply checking for ammonia and nitrite and daily water changes for a month or so are gone. My water keeping has been limited to plants, periodic water testing and large, frequent water changes for several years and I'm finding out that there's much more to it. Now, I'm asking myself how my fish have survived.

A bit of a sad day for me.

B

 

[Brotherbonje]

Hi I cycled my tank (fishless) reading ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 15 then added 1 betta 2 amano shrimp and 3 days later a long nosed snail I do 2 w/c a week 30%. 3 weeks past and tests reading ammonia 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 15. Can anyone tell me why I have traces of ammonia? Fish seem happy always treat water for w/c feed betta by hand so no left overs. Did I add them all too quickly?

 

[Rivercats]

Hello Rcats...

Again, apologies for my lack of knowledge. Apparently, the days of "fish in" tank cycling and simply checking for ammonia and nitrite and daily water changes for a month or so are gone. My water keeping has been limited to plants, periodic water testing and large, frequent water changes for several years and I'm finding out that there's much more to it. Now, I'm asking myself how my fish have survived.

A bit of a sad day for me.

B

Your fish have survived and quite well because you found a system that works for you and your tanks. Unfortunately everything is different today, chemicals added to water which vary from region to region, fish that often just don't seem hardy like the ones we used to get. Even as late as the 80's I can't remember having problems of fish dying during or shortly after acclimation. Had I not had SW tanks back then I'm not sure I would have done FW testing for anything. My SW tanks forced me to learn a lot. It's just a different time and world from our early days. I remember my first tank was a metal rimmed one with one of those little in tank corner box filters with floss in it and I can't even remember if I had a light. I think about my tanks today compared to back then and can't believe how much things have changed.

 

[Rivercats]

Hi I cycled my tank (fishless) reading ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 15 then added 1 betta 2 amano shrimp and 3 days later a long nosed snail I do 2 w/c a week 30%. 3 weeks past and tests reading ammonia 0.25 nitrite 0 nitrate 15. Can anyone tell me why I have traces of ammonia? Fish seem happy always treat water for w/c feed betta by hand so no left overs. Did I add them all too quickly?

It depends on the size of the tank but with 2 WC's weekly and that low of a bioload I would suspect your tap water might have a trace of ammonia or take a ph reading and if it's below 6.5 biological activity slows and under 6 biological activity stops. This is what has been being discussed in this post. Also check your tap water for ammonia and ph. In order to check tap water for ph you need to put some tap water in a cup and aerate or stir it off and on for 24 hours to let the water gas off. Then after 24 hours test it and this will be your taps true ph.

 

[Brotherbonje]

It depends on the size of the tank but with 2 WC's weekly and that low of a bioload I would suspect your tap water might have a trace of ammonia or take a ph reading and if it's below 6.5 biological activity slows and under 6 biological activity stops. This is what has been being discussed in this post. Also check your tap water for ammonia and ph. In order to check tap water for ph you need to put some tap water in a cup and aerate or stir it off and on for 24 hours to let the water gas off. Then after 24 hours test it and this will be your taps true ph.

Iv tested for both and ph 7.5 and ammonia 0

Could I have added fish ect too quick?
I think I could have cleaned it a bit too hard if its not that

 

[Cactuspixie]

Iv tested for both and ph 7.5 and ammonia 0

Could I have added fish ect too quick?
I think I could have cleaned it a bit too hard if its not that

Having two threads combined into one is really confusing for those of us who are following. You will also get more responses if you start your own thread.

 

[Sekal]

exactly.
open another thread for a different discussion.

 

[Sekal]

Anyway, Hi ppl!
I,ve donne another measure and here's the results.
gh---60
kh---0
ph---6.5 to 7
No2-1
No#-20 to 40
Amonia <0.02

The water is 90% clearer, the smell is still there but not as intense.
I,ve done almost everything that you guys said!
It,s like putting all your ideas, advises, theory's and facts in a table and trying to find the middle of it.
One thing i've learned over the years with experiences in wildlife, fauna and flora, is the more you temper with it the worst it gets!
So i've done frequent water changes, about 50% every week, reduced feeding. Also moved the shower of the filter up so it can splash more water. That made my water clearer within the day!
I have not noticed any signs of stress on the fishes and no diseases.
I've noticed changes in behavior.
The Blue Gourami used to hunt down the Yellow Gourami. That as completely changed. The Yellow hunts vigorously the blue 24/7. The blue actually changed color. Looks like war paint, kind of camouflage. I know his not going to last long! Showing signs of exhaustion. He only moves when the yellow is after him.
Again No2 and No3 are really improving.