Fishless Cycle Questions

[dalto]

I thought I saw them when i picked up the master kit.

KH=calcium hardness, lower kh means ph changes easier higher means ph is harder to change.

GH= general hardness...thats all i know

GH is the amount of mineral content in the water.

I remember reading a thread but can't find it now

It is here

 

[fish wrangler]

Thanks dalto!!

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dalto]

Also, I would not mess with your chemistry during your cycle. The cycle itself will lower KH so lowering it further may cause a crash.

 

[fish wrangler]

I will wait for cycle to end before messing with chemistry for sure. My ammonia to nitrite BB need to give me nitrote to nitrate BB a lesson on how to grow lol

I am off to bed, in the morning I will dose ~2ml of ammonia, test to check level, amd test again after school to see where everything stands...so many tests...

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[trennamw]

Didn't mean to confuse ...

During a cycle some people artificially keep pH near 8 because bacteria like it. As Dalto was saying, high 7 to low 8 (that nice place where the pH tests are a pain to read).

Just keep an eye on the pH, I'm sure you brought it up with that water change.

GH is overall minerals. KH is minerals specific to those that keep pH from dropping. I think I have that right I have to mess with it a lot having crazy soft water.

What did the LFS suggest you use to drop pH? That's not a process I'm familiar with at all.

I've had good luck with strips for GH and KH, head to head with the API tests. The five packs at big box are like five bucks?


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[fish wrangler]

Didn't mean to confuse ...

What did the LFS suggest you use to drop pH? That's not a process I'm familiar with at all.

Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

He said to use chemicals to lower the pH. I was reading that peat moss in tour filter will lower it, DW, almond leaves, and RO water

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dalto]

He said to use chemicals to lower the pH. I was reading that peat moss in tour filter will lower it, DW, almond leaves, and RO water

DW, peat, almond leaves, etc all work the same way more or less. They are releasing acids into the water which will lower KH and pH. However, if your KH is high to begin with they will not be that effective. Even if you started treating with other things every time you do a water change they will spike back up.

Basically if you KH is low to moderate the ways above are probably viable but if it is high or very high you will need to use RO or distilled water which isn't super fun unless you have easy access to it.

The other thing you need to consider is that, in my opinion, hardness/TDS is in most situations more important to fish than pH.

My advice would be to test your hardness/KH and then make a plan from there.

 

[fish wrangler]

Ok, strips are ok for KH and GH?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dalto]

Ok, strips are ok for KH and GH?

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

They should give you a decent idea. They are just a little imprecise but should be good enough for what you need to know.

 

[fish wrangler]

Ok

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[fish wrangler]

I added ammonia before school and was able to test 20 min later. Came back woth 2.0 ppm. Only added 1.65 ml

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[fish wrangler]

Ok just tested GH and KH. GH is 3.4 degrees (60ppm) amd KH is 4.5 degrees (80ppm)

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dalto]

Ok just tested GH and KH. GH is 3.4 degrees (60ppm) amd KH is 4.5 degrees (80ppm)

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

Is that your tap water?

 

[fish wrangler]

Tank water

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dalto]

Tank water

Can you test the tap as well?

 

[fish wrangler]

Just did. Both are 120 ppm

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[dalto]

That is pretty manageable, I am a little surprised that your pH is so high.

 

[trennamw]

That is really interesting tap water.

I *think* I read something somewhere about municipalities adding something that increases pH to prevent pipe corrosion, and that something doesn't affect KH. I'll go look ... Not that it's helpful, just interesting.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.

 

[fish wrangler]

When I tested the tap water the strip pH had it as 7.5. j am going to test the tank water later

Sent from my SCH-I545 using Aquarium Advice mobile app

 

[trennamw]

That's a tough one. The API tests can be hard to read right there, and I personally find (when I compared strips to API results head to head) that only GH and KH consistently match test tube to strip. But maybe that's just in my water.

I really like using a wide range pH test meant for hydroponics, our LFS got me using those instead of the API. No trying to figure out if it's top of the regular pH or bottom of the high pH.


Sent from my iPhone with three hands tied behind my back.