Shelly82
Aquarium Advice Newbie
Hello,
I have been trying to get a fish tank set up for my mom as a Mother's Day present for a few weeks now but the levels haven't been correct.
The only fish I have really ever had was a Beta Fish, he lived for about 2 1/2 years. I have never really tested water and all that prior to this fish tank. My mom got this 55 Gallon tank from my Aunt who no longer wanted it. I had our water tested at Petsmart and they said the pH was high so I purchased some pH decrease. I do not have anything living in the fish tank yet. My mom wanted a natural look so we have rocks and a piece or drift wood that is secured to a bottom meant for fish aquariums. I washed them all with water before adding to the tank. It is a 55 Gallon tank so buying store bought water is a bit much. I have added several doses of the pH decrease but it isn't going down. I have the test strips as that is all I can find. The strips go up to 8.4 and that is where it says the pH is. We do have large amounts of Calcium or something in our water as our dog bowls get white lines on them. We have city water but it doesn't have chorine according to testing.
The tank came with one of those old small types of charcoal filters and a Powerhead 70 which I purchased the separate filter for. I tested the water today after not adding anything for a week and the pH is still high and now the Nitrites are at 3.0 they were at zero before. I'm not sure what is causing this because there isn't anything in the tank other then rocks and a piece of drift wood.
Is there any way to get the pH to go down and what do I do about the Nitrites going up? I plan to get Mollies and some live plants but the store said their tanks are at 7.4 pH so even though I've read Mollies like a higher pH if they're used to the 7.4 I'm afraid my water would be too much of a shock for them.
I'm new to testing water and setting up a tank this large so if there is a better way please let me know. I read somewhere about liquids for testing but I'm unsure where to get those. Any help and suggestions is greatly appreciated as my mom really wants fish not just an empty tank.
Thanks in advance, Shelly
I have been trying to get a fish tank set up for my mom as a Mother's Day present for a few weeks now but the levels haven't been correct.
The only fish I have really ever had was a Beta Fish, he lived for about 2 1/2 years. I have never really tested water and all that prior to this fish tank. My mom got this 55 Gallon tank from my Aunt who no longer wanted it. I had our water tested at Petsmart and they said the pH was high so I purchased some pH decrease. I do not have anything living in the fish tank yet. My mom wanted a natural look so we have rocks and a piece or drift wood that is secured to a bottom meant for fish aquariums. I washed them all with water before adding to the tank. It is a 55 Gallon tank so buying store bought water is a bit much. I have added several doses of the pH decrease but it isn't going down. I have the test strips as that is all I can find. The strips go up to 8.4 and that is where it says the pH is. We do have large amounts of Calcium or something in our water as our dog bowls get white lines on them. We have city water but it doesn't have chorine according to testing.
The tank came with one of those old small types of charcoal filters and a Powerhead 70 which I purchased the separate filter for. I tested the water today after not adding anything for a week and the pH is still high and now the Nitrites are at 3.0 they were at zero before. I'm not sure what is causing this because there isn't anything in the tank other then rocks and a piece of drift wood.
Is there any way to get the pH to go down and what do I do about the Nitrites going up? I plan to get Mollies and some live plants but the store said their tanks are at 7.4 pH so even though I've read Mollies like a higher pH if they're used to the 7.4 I'm afraid my water would be too much of a shock for them.
I'm new to testing water and setting up a tank this large so if there is a better way please let me know. I read somewhere about liquids for testing but I'm unsure where to get those. Any help and suggestions is greatly appreciated as my mom really wants fish not just an empty tank.
Thanks in advance, Shelly