JS1987 Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hey all, I have started my aquarium and have had it running over the last week with three small gourami's and would just like an opinion of when to do my first partial water change my tank is 130 liters it is an Aquaone i have plenty of plants and two pieces of driftwood and three rocks and have a PH of 6.6. I do not have a test kit just a pH kit. Any advice is great thanks ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hey all, I have started my aquarium and have had it running over the last week with three small gourami's and would just like an opinion of when to do my first partial water change my tank is 130 liters it is an Aquaone i have plenty of plants and two pieces of driftwood and three rocks and have a PH of 6.6. I do not have a test kit just a pH kit. Any advice is great thanks ! Now is a good time for a water change. Also a week ago would have been a good time to get an ammonia test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1987 Posted March 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 20 % change ? I will tomorrow do it and get a test kit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1987 Posted March 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 water change and clean gravel ? ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Just a water change, there hasn't been much going in there to need a gravel vac yet and all that fish poop and plant matter is helping the tank mature at the moment. I think 20% would be plenty but the others may correct me. Since it's a big tank and only 3 fish I don't think they would produce enough waste to need to change out more. Unless you have been feeding them a lot, which is very easy to do. If you are worried about the gravel looking unsightly with leaves etc then stir it up a bit and then suck the main stuff off but don't let the vac suck the stones for a few more weeks I reckon. As Ira says, an ammonia kit would be a good investment and will help you keep an eye on things. If you can afford the whole testing kit then Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate are useful as you can see which stage of the cycle it's at. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1987 Posted March 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Thanks sophia i will do a water change tomorrow and leave the gravel for a bit. Thanks for the help its hard getting info from LFS ! :nfs: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 I think in the beginning it's best to worry less, and feed less. I know I have done far too much of both :sml2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 20 % change ? I will tomorrow do it and get a test kit. Would depend on how your ammonia readings are. But I normally don't bother with water changes that small. I usually do 50%ish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrienne Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 20% will be fine. Take your ammonia reading before you water change. It will give you a better idea if there is potential for trouble but with that few fish in a tank of that size I can not see any issues. Water changes, if the tank is all good are best done weekly at around the 25-30% mark. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheepsnana Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Most pet shops will test your water for you, they like to make sure your tank is in good condition before they sell you more fish. I'm only two blocks from my pet store, so they do ALL of my testing. In return, they get all my sales. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
karina Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Hey js1987 I have cycled a number of tanks before and a product called prime is great. You just top it up after each water change after the initial dosage. It removes any harmful nitrites and ammonia from the tank. I used this in the 620t with quite a few fish and never lost any. Good luck and just ask if you have any further questions Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Asking questions like this always gives you different answers from different people. If you haven't read it, there's a guide linked on the front page of this site that tells you the basics on how to cycle your filter. You haven't mentioned what sort of filter you are using either as a under gravel filter is treated differently from others in terms of vacuuming the gravel. In an established tank, you don't need to vacuum the gravel except to remove unsightly material, and it's best to remove water from the middle of the tank so that you don't disturb the bacterial ecology in the gravel. With an undergravel filter you can deep vacuum the gravel so that the filter doesn't block up. Since the filter is not established in your tank, I'd vacuum up all visible crap. You don't really want too much ammonia around when cycling with live fish. I'd also cut the feeding down to every other day to reduce the waste being produced. At a pH of 6.6. the nitrifying bacteria are barely having sex so it's going to take much longer for cycling to occur. But the redeeming feature is that your total ammonia will be mainly in the relatively non-toxic ammonium state. Instead of buying an ammonia test kit, I think it's cheaper to get a seachem intank monitor. It will last you a year but you can quickly use up an API test kit in a few months at the same price. Your total ammonia will be raised after a week. I would do two 50% water changes to get the ammonia down, and let the fish adjust to the pH of the incoming dechlorinated tap water. Some people will sit buckets of water outside to degas the chlorine overnight, and also bubble the water at the same time so that the pH then matches the tank water. Others will say that fish readily adapt to small pH changes. I'd also remove the wood in case tannins are causing the pH to drop like this. Once your filter is cycled, you can put the wood back in again. And you can pretty much get to where you want by getting live filter material from someone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Most people starting out will feed there fish too much. You can feed them every day or every second day but only enough that they can eat it in five minutes. If you overfeed you will be cycling with and without fish and may produce more toxic nitrogen compounds than your fish can cope with. That will be a very small pinch for the fish that you have. You can do a 20% or 50% water change (I would do a 50%). The water you replace with should be added at the same same temperature as the tank and be dechlorinated with a suitable additive. Letting the water stand may get rid of the chlorine but not the monochloramine which is nearly as toxic for your fish. The fish you have chosen are not the hardiest--hence replacing with water about the same temperature as the tank. All else you need is patience. You are on the right track so far. Good luck and enjoy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 I mentioned the standing of water and bubbling with O2 overnight as a mechanism of clearing out Co2 so that the water has a truer value of pH. But it may not be necessary. I also add boiled water and decholorinator so that I can best match the water temperatures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 In my experience the addition of driftwood has never significantly altered the pH, and yes I have tested the water many times with and without. If he's got it in there with a plan for long term he should keep it there and cycle it all together. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 What do you think is causing the acidity then? Is West Auckland water like that? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 There may be a bit of CO2 in a reticulated town supply because of the pressure in the mains but Local Authorities are pretty careful to supply non acid water because of the problems with dezincafication of brass and corrosion of copper. The bill could make the leaky buidings problem look like a warmup. I have just blended hot and cold and put it straight in. We are lucky we are not chlorinated. Except for a short while when shakey town got a few pipes busted. I have always understood (could be wrong) that water has a greater affinity for O2 than CO2 and this is why aeration is a means of getting CO2 from water. Aeration will normally get rid of iron (tastes terrible and stains the bath) and manganese (makes mum's whites come out grey) because it gets rid of the CO2 which keeps them in solution. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkLB Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 What do you think is causing the acidity then? Is West Auckland water like that? There's nothing wrong with a pH of 6.6. Gourami prefer slightly acid water. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 In my experienc aquariums tend to go acid over time. Not sure why, might be the food. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Ultimately it is the products of fish metabolism that cause the water to acidify. But that happens in old tanks, and not new where there is sufficient buffering capacity. Perhaps the OP is using rain water? Certainly plenty of that at the moment with this weather bomb passing over the country. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 The only way to tell whether it's something in the tank causing 6.6pH or whether it's normal is for JS1987 to test the water as it comes out of the tap, and compare to the stuff in the tank. Graham, I don't understand why would you tell him to remove the driftwood without knowing the cause of the pH, and then say that ultimately it's fish poop causing it, which is not related. If you don't know what it is then please don't comment because when people ask for advice they want reasonable certainty in an answer, I know that's what I look for when I ask for help. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Two different subjects. In an old tank, it's fish metabolism that acidifies the water unless the water is changed regularly to restore the buffering capacity. In a new tank, since the tap water is unlikely to be acidic for the reasons Alan stated, then it is something else causing it. Hence remove the driftwood. If you conducted your tests with old driftwood, then that is why you won't see a difference. With new driftwood it releases tannins which acidify the water and which could stall the filter from cycling in a normal time frame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 If you don't know what it is then please don't comment. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1987 Posted March 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 To everyone who wanted to know about the pH. Ive tested this straight out of my tap 7.8. When i first took my water sample into the LFS one week ago my pH was reading 7.3 ( i had one piece of driftwood in the tank) the guy said its a little high so i added another piece of driftwood went back dew days later and it was sitting at 6.6 he said it was fine to add a couple gourami so that is where thats at the moment. To the filter i am using i think its called trickle system where all the bio media and cartridges are in the top of the tank. I know i will be getting alot of different answers on here but to a novice like me all information is helpful. I have seen the seachem in tank monitors i think i will buy them today. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JS1987 Posted March 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 In a comment towards tannis the LFS told me to use boling hot water on the driftwood let it cool and leave it over night 24 hours in a bucket there is no "leaching" from the wood at all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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