Nitrates 0??

[ChristyL]

This is my first aquarium and despite. I have a 55 gallon planted aquarium with 4 cories, 5 otos, and 2 juvenile angelfish. Before adding fish I cycled the aquarium for a month, with the plants, and had a reading of 0-.25 ammonia, 0 nitrites, and 5-10 nitrates, with a ph of about 7.4 -7.8. I tried repeatedly dosing the ph prior to adding fish and never got it below 7.6. I started with the cories for a couple of weeks and then added the otos and anglefish last week along with a large piece of driftwood from the lfs store's oto tank. My ammonia stays between .5 on the high side to .25 on the low side. It comes out of the tap at 1.0 so all my water is aged before adding it to the tank, but even in the aging bucket, with no fish it reads at .25. I have been noticing the nitrates look like they are at 0 or barely above. I have two questions.

Should I add nitrifying bacteria to bring the nitrates up?

Should I add some almond leaves or peat moss to try & lower the ph more?

Thanks!

 

[King Fisher]

I'd do partial water changes every other day. Your tank will come around. Sounds like your tank isn't quite cycled or doesn't have enough BB to support the fish you have YET.

Don't mess with the pH. Swings in pH can kill fish. Your fish will adapt to your higher than ideal pH. I run angels in a pH of 8.4 for several years now. If you feel like you have to lower the pH you can add almond leaves but it's not necessary. Don't use chemicals to lower your pH.

IMO all you really need to do is frequent partial water changes to keep the ammonia down until your BB catches up.