Zuri_08 Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Hello My question today: how perfect does the chemistry of the water need to be in order to maintain happy, healthy fishes? From my previous posts some of you might already know what is in my tank: neon tetras, black-lined flying-fox, (the Otocinclus died), and soon guppies. Today I tested the water: pH_____________________ 7.6 (with bottle method) or 7 (using strips) GH (general hardness)_____ 40 KH (carbonate hardness)___ 0 NO2 (nitrite)_____________ 0 NO3 (nitrate)_____________ 0 Is the water chemistry here suitable for a freshwater (and small) community tank housing the fishes listed above? In particular, the GH and KH, as I have already learned nitrates are toxic and low levels (of NO2 and NO3) are best. How frequently is it recommended to test the water? I've been testing about weekly, though just bought the pH kit today so that one is new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sophia Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Now that the parameters are as low as you say, you should test once a week while you are still stocking, and then when you are finished you may not even feel like testing at all. When I got my first test kit I was testing every few days and then weekly when I did water change, and now I rarely do. Every time I do now it's always fine. In saying this it doesn't mean you won't have unexplained fish deaths, or fish that suddenly get something wrong with them and have to be medicated, but your water is what I think everyone would consider healthy for fish. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Looks OK to me. Nitrates are not toxic but nitrites are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuri_08 Posted September 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Cool thanks. @ Sophia; I was hoping the need for testing the water would decrease once the tank got more established, so good to know that is actually the case :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 What about adding some shells to the tank? The kh of 0 indicates a lack of buffering capacity and so your pH could fluctuate easily. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ira Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 I tend to go with the regular water changes and a good filtration method and just let the tank settle how it wants. Thought, I do have coral and bird grit in the filters because I'm on rainwater. I usually test every...Ummm...Well I threw away a test kit months ago that had expired in 2008 and I don't think I'd used it for a year or two before that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuri_08 Posted September 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 What about adding some shells to the tank? The kh of 0 indicates a lack of buffering capacity and so your pH could fluctuate easily. Interesting... How do shells change the KH? Do they leach out calcium? Are any shells safe for the aquarium? Is there a particular duration to have them in the aquarium? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 ime fish are happier in stable conditions, those parameters are fine for most community fish. Is the water chemistry here suitable for a freshwater (and small) community tank housing the fishes listed above? In particular, the GH and KH, as I have already learned nitrates are toxic and low levels (of NO2 and NO3) are best. How frequently is it recommended to test the water? I've been testing about weekly, though just bought the pH kit today so that one is new. Nitrates are the least toxic part of the nitrogen cycle and should be kept well below 40ppm (imo 20ppm is very high). Ammonia and Nitrites are very toxic and ideally should be at 0 at all times. personally I hardly test my water unless I notice something unusual or my spidey sense starts tingling. also if you are not using additives, and your tank does not contain excessive amounts of driftwood, your pH normally stays pretty stable once its gone through its settling period. the main tests you should be looking at is Ammonia, Nitrite and Nitrate. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hamstar99 Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Interesting... How do shells change the KH? Do they leach out calcium? Are any shells safe for the aquarium? Is there a particular duration to have them in the aquarium? Shells, crushed coral, or limestone help raise the Kh. My tank is full of limestone and i also top with a salt mixture but that is for Africans. How did you test your KH and Gh. Is that 40 drops for gh? or on a strip? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuri_08 Posted September 29, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Thanks Fi5hguy; I like "spidey sense" Hi Hamstar99; I used one of those "5 in 1 test strips" to get the GH, KH and nitrate/nitrite readings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
F15hguy Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 ime the strip tests are rather inaccurate, try getting a drop test btw unless you have liquid rocki or are trying something that absolutely needs softer water, hardness should not be an issue, most council supplies are reasonably good as water that is too hard clogs their pipes Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted September 29, 2012 Report Share Posted September 29, 2012 Hamilton water is very soft. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuri_08 Posted September 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 Hello all I found my stash of sea shells and put a few (whole ones) in the tank. They actually look pretty good. I assume they cannot harm the fish... one shell is producing bubbles, should I worry about that? How long would it take for 3 unbroken sea shells to increase KH? Also, measured pH using test bottle kit: 8.0 That seems quite high, apparently about 7.5 for a community tank is idea?? Tap water is about 7.3. I'll measure it again in the morning before lights-on, as suggested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuri_08 Posted September 30, 2012 Author Report Share Posted September 30, 2012 ...i decided to remove the shell creating little bubbles. My fish have lived in the tank for a while now so I guess the pH is not that bad for them, and the other parameters are good. I will monitor the pH for a while, and maybe not worry about hardness since most of you consider it less important than other measures. Min tank has been running about 2 months so must have settled by now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Li@m Posted October 2, 2012 Report Share Posted October 2, 2012 Cool thanks. @ Sophia; I was hoping the need for testing the water would decrease once the tank got more established, so good to know that is actually the case :-) I've had my tank running for quite a while now and I don't even bother testing my water params. Just change the water when I remember/can be bothered, which is like one a month. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zuri_08 Posted October 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 I've had my tank running for quite a while now and I don't even bother testing my water params. Just change the water when I remember/can be bothered, which is like one a month. Yep; just what I'm hoping for! In saying that though, I've quite enjoyed this chemistry-science stuff ;-) (mental image: ...showing off how I magically make water change colour...) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrahamC Posted October 3, 2012 Report Share Posted October 3, 2012 Experienced fish keepers can probably get away with it as they tend to observe the behavior of the fish closely ie. they apply a different test. For us others, it's chemical test kits which harm no one. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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