Hi!

I finally set up my juwel rio 125 a week ago. added gravel, bogwood (pre-soaked for about 8 weeks!) a couple of pieces of granite and stones (suitable for aquariums).
I seeded the water with some fish food (adding a pinch every 2 days)

My levels after 1 week are;-
pH 8.2 (my tap water is 7.4)
ammonia 0ppm
nitrite 0.25ppm
KH 179ppm
GH 358ppm

Is this okay at this stage??
I dont get why the pH is much higher than the tap water??
Is the high pH going to cause trouble with keeping live plants and general community fish??
Also shouldnt there be some ammonia at this stage?
Is the GH and KH normal or very high? The test kit chart only went up to 179ppm! again is this going to cause problems for general community livestock and plants??

Sorry about all the questions - this is my first tank though!
hope to hear from you!
Timbo

Hi Timbo,

Your KH and GH are fine.

With high KH, your pH will tends to be a little higher. It really depends on what type of fish you want to keep. Some wants it high, some prefer close to neutral. Once the fish are in, the pH will change a little as well.

Not knowing how much food you have added and how they are rotting, it is hard to predict if a certain amount of ammonia is generated. I would assume that you should see some soon. You might want to add a little more flakes to see if you can hasten the process a little.

thanks captain K!

a few more questions if I may!!

What I dont get though is why the pH should be higher than what comes out of the tap? The KH, GH are determined by the tap water arent they so wont change much in the tank??

When you say the pH will change with fish in , will it go up or down?

thanks again!

Timbo

No worries, Timbo.

When you say the tap water pH is 7.4, that is straight from the tap, right? If you let a bucket of tap water sit overnight, you will find that the pH would have changed.

Most biological process will produce acid either directly or indirectly. E.g. fish exhaust CO2, CO2 forms carbonic acid. The carbonates in the water (measured by KH) acts as a buffer against pH swings. The higher the KH, the more stable is the pH. However, the natural tendency of a high KH tank is to have a pH around 8.3. So it also depends on what type of fish you want to keep to keep everything in balance and no to swing too far one way or the other.

Quote:

Yes, this is straight from the tap, but why should the pH rise when left overnight??

Quote:

I will add some every day then and see how it goes.

Timbo

I don't understand all the chemistry involved as well. Basically, your tap water is under high pressure in the pipes and there are chemicals and dissolved gasses in the water which shouldn't be there. E.g. chlorine will gas off if left in a bucket, same with CO2, CO2 is sometimes added to stabilise the pH and it will gas off in time as well. The bottomline is that the water that just left the tap is not the same water that has been sitting around for a few hours. BTW, you can also get ammonia and nitrIte coming straight from the tap as well.

Hi All

Its now nearly another week on and I've tested my water again. The ammonia and nitrite are both zero.

Is my tank not cycling? or has it cycled and I have missed it (I've only tested the water once every week)?

I have added more fish food about every other day.

Also, when you are cycling is it best to leave the water or carry out a change, if so how much??

thanks again

Timbo

Hi All

Its now nearly another week on and I've tested my water again. The ammonia and nitrite are both zero.

Is my tank not cycling? or has it cycled and I have missed it (I've only tested the water once every week)?

I have added more fish food about every other day.

Also, when you are cycling is it best to leave the water or carry out a change, if so how much??

thanks again

Timbo

Hi Timbo,

Do you have any nitrAte readings?