PH and general advice on a new aquarium

[Gazingatstars12]

I recently switched out a 5 gallon aquarium for a 20 gallon and under my girlfriends insistence put our fish into it right away. One 3 inch goldfish and two little pink guys about 1 inch long. The next day I got out my brand new bottle of test strips and .... OH NO!!! Things are all screwed up.

The smaller tank we never really took care of too much so I didnt know about cycling and everything else Ive learned about the past two weeks Ive been reading. Im currently trying to cycle the tank and keep the fish as healthy as I can until the bio filter gets established. They lived in toxic water for at least 6 months so I think they can take it. I seem to be keeping everything under control with daily water changes. My only problem is that (and Im sure its been said here on the forum many times before) EVERYWHERE I go I get conflicting advice. I was at the fish store today to get the ammonia tested one last time and pick up a test kit and the guy there told me my ph is really low and that its going to kill my fish, so I leave the store with the API test kit with the PH up/down bottles. I get home and try testing it with the liquid instead of the strip and now it says its too high.

Heres my question... the liquid test is saying 7.6 while the strips are telling me 6.8-7.0. I read the insctructions carefully, did the liquid test correctly and rechecked it about 5 times getting consistent results every time. Which one should I believe? And if the strips are THAT inaccurate on the ph are they as bad for testing everything else? I havent put any chemicals in, and dont think I will after reading here on the forum, but is this something I should worry about?

Any other advice anyone could offer is appreciated... I know now that I shouldnt have put the fish in the tank so soon. Hindsight is always 20/20, right?

 

[George9]

Trust the liquid test kit over the strips. The strips are hardly ever accurate. Yes, and do not mess with your pH!! It is prefect, 7.6 is great IMO. Those chemicals do more harm in the long run then good.

 

[Gazingatstars12]

Yea luckily even before I started reading i was extremely iffy about using any kind of chemicals... Should I ditch the strips totally and get liquid kits for the nitrites and nitrates or can the strips be relied upon until I run out of them?

Thanks for the quick reply

 

[Dreadz]

Is your ph result from the normal or high range ph test?
While you're cycling the tank the most important readings will be the ammonia and nitrite tests. Most fish will adapt to whatever ph your tank sits at once it settles (it can be erratic whilst cycling) and the only time to be concerned is if your ph drops or rises to extremes (below 6 or up close to 9) as extremes can stall your cycle

 

[phin]

Also, 7.6 is the highest reading the API pH test gives. You may have a pH over 7.6. Either way, your pH is fine, don't worry about it. Just cycle your tank. Take back the pH up & down to the pet store and tell them you were sold a bag of goods by whoever was there that didn't know what they were talking about. Use the refund to buy some Seachem Stability or even a bottle of tetra safe start.

 

[Convict2161]

Also, 7.6 is the highest reading the API pH test gives. You may have a pH over 7.6. Either way, your pH is fine, don't worry about it. Just cycle your tank. Take back the pH up & down to the pet store and tell them you were sold a bag of goods by whoever was there that didn't know what they were talking about. Use the refund to buy some Seachem Stability or even a bottle of tetra safe start.

Actually just to correct you, API has a high pH test kit. I use it for my cichlids. It will test 8.0,8.2,8.4 etc

So... They do have it and its included in the freshwater test kit.

IMO stay away from the safe start and just get a bottle of Prime for conditioner and leave it alone. That's just me though...

 

[phin]

Actually just to correct you, API has a high pH test kit. I use it for my cichlids. It will test 8.0,8.2,8.4 etc

So... They do have it and its included in the freshwater test kit.

IMO stay away from the safe start and just get a bottle of Prime for conditioner and leave it alone. That's just me though...



View attachment 141434

Right, I've a API high range test kit as well.

I didn't mean to give misinformation. I was assuming the OP was using the standard test kit as the OP didn't specify using the High Range pH kit, and is the kit found in every pet/fish store in the country. The standard API test kit, which I assume the OP was using will only measure to 7.6, which coincedentally was the reading the OP gave - so I thought it pertinent to mention.

I don't use safe start either. I think having a bottle of Stability on hand works great for quickly re-establishing a tank after a mini-cycle or crash, but I push a lot a seachem products since I'm a big fan, and wanted to change it up a bit since I'm new around here and don't want to be seen as a shill for seachem.

 

[Convict2161]

Haha I'm a prime user for a year and will always push prime lol.

 

[phin]

If I could afford it I would only use Seachem and Brightwell Aquatics products in my tanks. Unfortunately, I cannot.

 

[Gazingatstars12]

I used the regular range ph kit. It came with a broken test tube so i was going to return it anyway. It looks like its between 7.6 and 7.4, I said 7.6 because its just the slightest bit closer to that color than 7.4. I did use safe start last night in hopes of getting the cycle moving along. Was that a Mistake?

Im going to test as soon as I get home from work and probably do a water change. Also I have a bottle of ammonia detoxifier that I haven't used yet. Like I said I'm very iffy about chemicals. Is this something that will help or hurt me? Or is it something that just doesn't do anything useful?

 

[Gazingatstars12]

Nitrates down from 40 to 20. Nitrites went from 1.0 to 0 but the ammonia spiked. Its between .5 and 1.0. I'm going to do a water change. 40-50%. What's the best way to read the liquid kits. I get the feeling I should hold it directly under a light so there are no shadows at all to see the real color of the test water. Is this correct? Thanks

 

[Dreadz]

Nitrates down from 40 to 20. Nitrites went from 1.0 to 0 but the ammonia spiked. Its between .5 and 1.0. I'm going to do a water change. 40-50%. What's the best way to read the liquid kits. I get the feeling I should hold it directly under a light so there are no shadows at all to see the real color of the test water. Is this correct? Thanks

I always view it with the light source above and behind me and with the test tube touching the card

 

[Gazingatstars12]

I have nitrites reading consistently at 0 and nitrates are slowly rising, but I still have ammonia in the tank. From what Ive read the ammonia should disappear first and then the nitrites. what does this mean?

Also I have a Penguin 30G filter with the biowheel and there is an extra slot for filter media. Should I add another cartridge to help establish BB?

 

[Dreadz]

I have nitrites reading consistently at 0 and nitrates are slowly rising, but I still have ammonia in the tank. From what Ive read the ammonia should disappear first and then the nitrites. what does this mean?

Also I have a Penguin 30G filter with the biowheel and there is an extra slot for filter media. Should I add another cartridge to help establish BB?

There's 3 possible causes that spring to my mind.
1 the tank isn't yet fully cycled
2 there's ammonia in your water supply or
3 your tank is being over fed

I'd guess its likely to be the first cause but it won't hurt to test your tap water to rule out number 2. If you're confident that you're not overfeeding then it is likely to be number1 in which case just keep testing and carrying out PWC's for next week or so and see how it goes.

 

[Gazingatstars12]

I tested the tap water and its clean, and starting today I will be adding a little bit extra conditioner to the water just incase there is any trace amounts of chlorine left affecting the cycle. Ive been feeding very minimally for the last 4-5 days to try to keep the ammonia down.

Ill keep up with the water changes every day, I just wanted to make sure I didnt screw up somewhere.

Thanks for the info

 

[AmoretteCadenza]

This might be stupid... But I just want to make sure I'm reading this right... I'm new to this
Nitrate: 20
Nitrite: 0
Total Hardness: 150
Total Alkalinity: 40?
pH: 7.8 or 8.4?

 

[Gazingatstars12]

Those test strips cam be wildly inaccurate. But it looks like your reading it right. I would recommend the master liquid test kit from api. It has all the tests you need and one that the strips don't. Ammonia.

 

[AmoretteCadenza]

Yeah it is kinda hard to read... I'll check out the liquid tests from API thanks!

 

[Gazingatstars12]

At the very least get the ammonia test kit. High ammonia will kill fish fast. The master freshwater kit will run you about 30 bucks online while individual kits are around 8 to 12. Better off just getting the whole thing as far as value goes

 

[George9]

I think it's like 18-20 on amazon right now, but I've seen it as low as $15. Great price for a decent set of kits