But I didn't. I let my tank run for a about week without fish. On day three I did put some bacteria into the tank that Petsmart recommended, but went back on day ten and bought six red minor tetras and five green cories. A week later I bought my main objective... four angel fish. I was reading that Angel fish prefer a Ph round 6.5, and I became concerned because my test strips (I know I know... I NOW know about API) say mine is at least 8.4 In my research I read enough to know that I didn't want to mess with chemicals, and that I didn't want to alter it too quickly, so I bought distilled water, determining to add one gallon with every water change. I have a 40 gallon tank. NOW I'm reading here about cycling, and I'm really nervous about my new babies. I ordered an API master kit for testing. My strips say that my nitrites, and nitrates are zero, and after my first water change with the gallon of distilled my Ph is 7.8 My strips say that my water is soft, and than my alkalinity is ideal. There is nothing that indicates ammonia levels.
So, my question is, can I mitigate any damage by doing daily water changes until I get my test kit in and find out where I stand? Would it harm the fish to do daily water changes? I changed about 10% today.
So, my question is, can I mitigate any damage by doing daily water changes until I get my test kit in and find out where I stand? Would it harm the fish to do daily water changes? I changed about 10% today.