PH question

[marina]

I am fishless cycling a 3gal tank to move my betta into from a 1.5 gl tank. The new tank was set up last week (Wed.) and checking the water levels, PH is very high, at 9.0 I read about "manipulating" the pH (PH down & up) but I also read about not been a very good idea, that more important that having it at a certain level is to have a stable PH...That said, my betta has a 7.0 PH level in his current tank, if the PH in the new tank does not go down, I have enough common sense to know that will not be a good idea to do "the switch"...How would you handle this? The PH liquid test kit recommends to do 1/3 wc if "the value lies below 6 or above 8.5", which I did....Thank you for your time to answer my question!

 

[PaulieFish]

Your tank just sounds like its still setting up its cycle. The bacteria is forming and the switching back and forth between nitrate and nitrite with ammonia going back and forth could cause PH spikes. I may be wrong, but you could test the water tomorrow and it be 7.0.

I would NOT use PH balances. I have only heard trouble from these.

Give your tank another week and see how it is.

 

[marina]

Thank you PauliFish, yes, i will not even attempt to mess up with PH levels... I have enough "stress" just waiting for the cycle to end...hehehe
I appreciate your help!

 

[mfdrookie516]

dont worry about the ph yet, it will bounce all around hile the tank is cycling... what is your tap water ph?

 

[marina]

Never checked that...I know is high in Ammonia..General Hardness all around!!! Using Prime to treat the H2O!!!, but, may I ask you a question? I should post it as a "Thread" but I would like to know your opinion...Starting from the agreement that everybody have a "way" to practice "fishkeeping"...What is the "right way" when it comes to WATER CHANGES!!!??? I finally have a 10gal tank cycled (after not going thru a fishless cycle...BIG MISTAKE!) and loosing ALL my fish (including a betta). After 2 weeks of "waiting" for good water levels, added 3 Bleeding Hearts last week, 2 have already died!!!What is going on??? My friend husband is telling me that my weekly pwc are too much, that I should just do MONTHLY pwc unless of course ammonia start raising...This back and for of different opininons is driving me crazy and when you are a "newbie" at this, is so hard to discern, which way to go... I would appreciate your input and will post a thread later on if necessary...Thanks!

 

[PaulieFish]

Never checked that...I know is high in Ammonia..General Hardness all around!!! Using Prime to treat the H2O!!!, but, may I ask you a question? I should post it as a "Thread" but I would like to know your opinion...Starting from the agreement that everybody have a "way" to practice "fishkeeping"...What is the "right way" when it comes to WATER CHANGES!!!??? I finally have a 10gal tank cycled (after not going thru a fishless cycle...BIG MISTAKE!) and loosing ALL my fish (including a betta). After 2 weeks of "waiting" for good water levels, added 3 Bleeding Hearts last week, 2 have already died!!!What is going on??? My friend husband is telling me that my weekly pwc are too much, that I should just do MONTHLY pwc unless of course ammonia start raising...This back and for of different opininons is driving me crazy and when you are a "newbie" at this, is so hard to discern, which way to go... I would appreciate your input and will post a thread later on if necessary...Thanks!

You should start your own thread but I will reply here. It is very difficult to say there is a "way" of doing things, one because its water. Water in your region could be and most likely is WAY different then water in my region. So for example, if you do not properly treat your water before adding it to the fish tank (not after adding ) it could really mess things up.

Most people recommend Prime, its a great de-chlorinator and is very helpful. Now like I said water quality is very different everywhere, and if you are treating the water after adding it to the tank it doesn't help or is as useful.

First thing for tanks is the cycle. Well actually, its your home tap water. Many people like to get there water tested before doing anything with fish to see what they will need to maintain and keep it clean. If you have a lot chemicals in your water (cities usually have a lot that are harmless to us, but lethal to fish) then you may need more then just a dechlorinator. There are many scam products that really do nothing that say "Makes water safe in minutes" yeah it may be what they call "safe" but it may also destroy all your health bacteria in your tank.

I found the best guide to setting up a fishtank was here Freshwater Fish Aquarium Setup

I mean thats about all the information you need for a basic tank setup. and about the weekly PWC its very helpful, think of it as you breathing in the same air for months at a time, wouldnt you like some fresh air here and there. Same thing with fish, they are urinating and pooping and left over food, and tons of other things. PWC are very helpful as long as you are treating the water correctly. By adding toxic water fish will die.

Bets of Luck,
Paul

 

[jimv8673]

Ph

Ph of 9 you should do a saltwater, or Rift lake tank. That is high, but as you may have read, Ph is kinda relative, unless you intend to go for breeding. The fish you keep may not do their best but most will acclimate. What a lot of people dont realize is that in nature a given species is used to being in water that may be anything from very acidic to very alkiline. However most hobbyist will never own a fish that is wild caught, and has never known "Ideal" water conditions anyway since birth. Almost if not all pet store fish are, captive bred 25th generation animals, that most likely came from parents that have acclimated themselves to live and breed in water nowhere close to what that species would see in nature.

It would be nice to know where that fish came from and try to immulate what it has become used to rather than what the books say it should be used to.

Moral of this story is, if you try to keep your water chemistry at the book levels, that fish wont have a clue, because it has never known what the correct levels are. My best advice is to use the water you have, dont mess with trying to spend a lot of time and trouble adjusting it, if youre not having problems, and enjoy your hobby more.

Ive been keeping everything you can imagine, Not including wild caught fish in 7.8 out of the tap water for 30 years. and have not lost a fish to anything but old age in longer than i can remember.